THE Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture confirmed yesterday that it has withheld payments on a number of calves presented for slaughter in the North because it suspects they may have been brought from the Republic to qualify for higher slaughter premiums operating in the UK.
Last month, the EU introduced a calf slaughter scheme for the whole of Europe designed to kill one million calves under 20 days old to reduce the amount of beef being produced in the Union.
And while that mandatory scheme has already started in Britain and Northern Ireland, it has not yet got under way in the Republic, where the slaughter premium has been fixed at £99.53 for calves from dairy animals and £124.42 for beef breeds.
Yesterday, Compassion in World Farming, the animal welfare organisation, alleged that calves from the Republic are being sent to Northern Ireland and from there to a slaughterhouse in Wrexham to be slaughtered under the UK scheme. It said the calves are given UK eartags, apparently to avoid the £5 per head veterinary fee which is payable on Republic of Ireland export health certificates.
"There is, sadly, nothing illegal in exporting calves from the Republic to the UK to be slaughtered under the UK Slaughter Scheme. However, it would be illegal for such calves to be given an identity once they get to Northern Ireland," said Ms Mary Anne Bartlett, director of CIWF Ireland.
She said there had also been allegations that adult cattle from the Republic were also being sent to Northern Ireland and from there to Britain to be slaughtered under the scheme there which involves killing bullocks over 30 months old.
"This is being done because the compensation being paid in Britain is higher than the market price in the Republic of Ireland, thereby making it worthwhile to send animals from the Republic to Britain," she said.
"It's bad enough to be slaughtering these young calves at all but to subject them to a long journey before slaughter is unthinkable," she said.
Last night, a spokesman for the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture denied that the identification and control of cattle in Northern Ireland are poor and ineffective as had been alleged by CIWF.
A Department of Agriculture spokesman said normal trading of calves with Northern Ireland was continuing and it was unaware of any problems with the trade there.
. The Department yesterday banned the export of live animals from or through France because of the lorry drivers' dispute there which is disrupting traffic throughout the country.
About 2,000 live animals, mainly young calves, are exported to and through France weekly.