The group that represents Irish calf exporters has hit out at the Dutch ministry of agriculture, accusing of it mounting a “politically motivated attack on Irish livestock exports” that has no basis in law.

Last week saw the Dutch ministry confirm that it had warned four Irish calf exporters that they had one year to comply with its demand for 12-hourly milk feeds for unweaned calves or they would face fines, stating that its inspections had shown their lorries were not equipped with in-transit milk feeders.

However, the Irish Livestock Exporters Association (ILEA) has stated that the claims underpinning the threat of fines against Irish transport companies “are without foundation in current EU law" and that it constitutes an “unjustified attack on Ireland’s legitimate livestock-export trade”.

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The ILEA has said that there is no legal requirement to feed milk to unweaned calves every 12 hours under EU regulations – an interpretation that previously had been argued by Ireland’s Department of Agriculture.

Recommendations

It noted the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) recommendation that this 12-hour limit be observed, but said that binding EU legislation currently in force contains no provision requiring that calves be fed milk every 12 hours, with no requirement in place to install specialised milk feeding equipment on vehicles.

The group has also said that the appropriate course of action where non-compliances had been suspected is to notify Irish authorities and follow "established regulatory and enforcement procedures".

“[The] EFSA remarks form part of a proposal under negotiation, not binding law,” the ILEA commented, as it criticised the timing, tone and substance of Dutch authorities’ warning to Irish calf exporters as “consistent with a broader pattern of activist NGO pressure aimed at undermining Ireland’s live animal export sector”.

Call for government intervention

The exporters’ group has called on the Irish Government and the Department of Agriculture to publicly refute the Dutch interpretation of EU animal transport rules.

It reiterated that it remains “vigorously opposed” to the European Commission’s current proposal to tighten animal transport regulations on the grounds that it would “impose unworkable operational requirements, undermine the viability of live animal exports from peripheral regions such as Ireland and exceed what is necessary to secure high animal welfare standards”.

The ILEA is in engagement with MEPs, member states and the Commission to attempt to amend aspects of the proposals.

“This is an attack on Irish livestock exports, dressed up as enforcement. It is without foundation in law, without authority in the current regulation and it should be condemned as such,” a spokesperson for the group stated.

“The ILEA will not stand by while Irish exporters are targeted by measures that have no basis in EU law and that seek to deliberately dis-inform the general public and achieve through regulatory pressure what cannot be achieved through democratic legislation.”