The individual tagging of the entire Irish sheep flock is to remain in place until the European Commission decides otherwise, it emerged yesterday.
The Irish Farmers' Association launched an intensive campaign for a "simple and practical system of sheep identification based on a flock tag". IFA national sheep committee chairman Mr Laurence Fallon said there was a major push from sheep farmers to remove the red tape and bureaucracy of the system, particularly with decoupling.
Mr Fallon said he would meet senior EU Commission officials in Brussels this week on the issue.
He said there was a real opportunity for progress leading up to the December farm council meeting, which may decide the issue.
However, a Department of Agriculture and Food spokesman said last night the issue was still under discussion and was in committee at the European Union.
