CLA welcomes creation of new Animal Health and Welfare Board for England

The CLA today (27 April) welcomed the Governments decision to create an Animal Health and Welfare Board for England.

The Association said it has long supported a new approach to bring the industry and Government together to help make a better job of dealing with outbreaks of animal disease and keeping it out of England.

CLA President William Worsley said: For a generation UK farming has wrestled with a series of appalling animal diseases.  Although the Coalition is not prepared to create a new arms-length body as we would have preferred, the proposed Board does offer real industry influence on how animal health and welfare policy is made and implemented.

Everything now depends on getting the right people on the Board, and it is vital the industry plays a full role in this process. This will take time and should not be rushed. We are pleased it has been agreed that responsibility sharing must precede any discussions of cost sharing, that the Board covers all farm animal health and welfare issues and will be the principal source of advice to Ministerial decision making on animal disease control.

Mr Worsley added: There are many important details we will wish to consider carefully as the Board is set up and starts exercising influence.  The terms of reference, for example, state that Ministers expect to accept advice offered by the Board where that advice is the agreed view of all Board members.  This gives the Minister too much scope to over rule the majority view but we trust this can be modified.

Animal disease inflicts enormous cost and anguish on the farming industry, as well as high costs to the public purse.  It will take some time for the effect of the new Board to be noticed, but we hope that by the end of this year we will be on the way a less costly animal health policy in England.

• To read the full statement on sharing responsibility for animal health and welfare policy by Agriculture Minister Jim Paice, please visit: http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/04/26/responsibility-animal-health/
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