EURO-MPs this week unanimously rejected proposals to tag every individual sheep in Europe.
The European Parliament's Agriculture Committee on Tuesday rejected Commission proposals to put a 14-digit code number in both ears of each sheep.
The NFU, which has long argued that it would be unworkable in the UK because it has the highest number of sheep flocks in remote areas, immediately called on the Commission to drop the plan.
MEPs opted for an EU-wide batch system of checking, involving recording flock movements not individual sheep. This is the system used in the UK.
They also agreed with the Commission that there should be an EU-wide electronic ID system to simplify the paper system but were concerned about the feasibility and cost of such a scheme at this stage.
The European Council Working Group on Sheep Identification will meet next week to try to reach a political agreement on the issue. If agreement is reached, new plans could be adopted by Ministers by the end of this year, with likely implementation January or July 2005.
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