Scottish Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon has expressed disappointment with a vote in the European Parliament which rejected an attempt to change the electronic identification (EID) rules for sheep.
Proposed changes to the rules included in a final compromise amendment drawn up by the Rapporteur Liberal MEP Marit Paulson would have seen sheep exempted from electronic tagging rules until they were leaving the holding.
The amendment failed after the two biggest political groups in the European Parliament voted against it.
Mr Lyon said Scottish sheep farmers will be deeply disappointed that the EID amendments to change the rules on electronic sheep tags were defeated in the vote.
Mr Lyon said: “This amendment would have put tagging rules back to the top of the agenda and increased pressure on the Commission to accept changes.
“It is a missed opportunity to help farmers, and we are now left once again having to go back to the drawing board.
“This issue must be a priority for the new Parliament and, if re-elected, I will continue to pursue the changes we need for Scotland and the UK.”
