From the surreal to the ridiculous – the EU’s laws only get worse
CIB Admin Posted On May 18, 2022 
Best-selling British beef barred from UK, while PM’s attempt to woo Sinn Féin falls on deaf ears…
Both the EU and Irish nationalists would rather people suffer than right a wrong
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Belfast yesterday and attempted to get the DUP and Sinn Féin to co-operate so they can reopen the Stormont assembly with a new joint Executive.
The attempt has failed because Sinn Féin will not support amending the Protocol and DUP stood on a platform in the recent elections of not forming an Executive unless the Protocol was replaced.
We seek to bring you up-to-date on what is really happening. Today we reveal the latest bizarre EU regulations the Protocol enforces. Last week it was fishing, this week it is the movement of cattle.
“These aren’t just any cattle, these are British Limousin cattle”
Limousin cattle from France – ironically – first arrived into Leith Docks, Edinburgh in 1971. From these humble beginnings, no other breed has been able to exert such an influence on the UK beef industry quite like the British Limousin.
Today British Limousin is the leading numerical beef breed with the highest market share, and its 2,800 members register some 18,000 pedigree calves each year.
Now that’s a lot of ‘rosbif’….
SUMMARY
What is the latest Protocol regulation to make the news?
- NI cattle from Britain’s biggest beef breed are effectively barred by the EU from being exhibited in mainland GB
- Arrangements for the 50th show for the British Limousin Cattle Society reveal a previously unknown Protocol rule
- Limousin breeders from NI have had to abandon plans to show animals at the show due to highly expensive Protocol rules
- EU rule makes the transporting of cattle for show or sale, and then returning to Northern Ireland completely uneconomic
- The cost for quarantining will run into £1,000s per animal
Photo credit British Limousin Cattle Society – click to enlarge
And here are the rules for horses
- Horses, unlike cattle, can be transported from Northern Ireland to the GB mainland and return the same or next day without any difficulty
- No quarantining is required for horses – cattle are a different matter
Protocol regulations for moving cattle across the Irish Sea mean that although Northern Irish farmers can take their animals to England, Scotland and Wales to exhibit and sell – they cannot take them back home again until they have been quarantined in Britain for six months.
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Harry Parker, Chairman of the British Limousin Cattle Society
Speaking about the thousands of Limousin cattle of his 500 or so members in Northern Ireland, Mr Parker said:
“They can come over, they can be sold, shown, but they cannot go back…
“There’s six months over here before they can actually go back to Northern Ireland. Whereas racehorses and that can go backwards and forwards in a day! It is bizarre and it’s putting our Northern Irish members at a disadvantage.”
“Normally a lot of Northern Irish animals come over to be shown at the big event, it’s very prestigious. And it just cannot happen this year. They are not going to bring their best show animals, their pride and joy, over to this side, to then have them held up here for six months before they go back.
“I find it appalling. We all do. It’s appalling. It is penalising our members in Northern Ireland.”
– Harry Parker, Chairman, British Limousin Cattle Society, at the Balmoral Show, 13 May 2022
NI Limousin breeders will miss out on their Society’s 50th anniversary show
The celebratory UK 50th anniversary show of Limousin breeders is due to take place from 28 – 31 July 2022 in Borderway Mart, Rosehill, Carlisle, North West England, to mark the half-century since the now-dominant breed arrived in the UK.
As a result of the EU’s laws which still govern Northern Ireland – despite Brexit – no NI breeder will be able to participate in this important event for the industry if they want to take their cattle home with them.
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Photo right: British Limousin cattle show what they feel about the EU’s laws being imposed on British soil…
