EFRACom Press Release

Defra must adopt a multi-faceted approach to tackling Cattle TB

Badger and cattle TB: the final report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB—Report published

The Government’s current method of controlling cattle TB, that of surveillance, testing and slaughter, is not working effectively. 

That is the conclusion of the EFRA select committee in its report Badgers and cattle TB: the final report of the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB published at 00.01 am on Wednesday 27 February.

Cattle TB is an infectious disease that is one of the most serious animal health problems in Great Britain today. The number of infected cattle has been doubling every four and a half years. The consequential growing cost of the disease to the taxpayer and to the farming industry is unsustainable. In “hot spot” areas where the prevalence of the disease is highest, the farming industry has reached a breaking point as the disruption to business in both human and economic terms has become unacceptable. The final straw for many farmers has proved to be the introduction of a new system of valuations for their slaughtered cattle which has proved inequitable in many cases.

The Committee’s conclusion is that there is no simple solution that will control cattle TB. The Government must adopt a multi-faceted approach to tackling the disease, using all methods available. The Government’s strategy for cattle TB should include:

• more frequent cattle testing, with more frequent and targeted combined use of the tuberculin skin test and the gamma interferon test
• the evaluation of post-movement cattle testing
• greater communication with farmers on the benefits of biosecurity measures
• the deployment of badger and cattle vaccines when they become available in the future
• continued work on the epidemiology of the disease

The Committee recognises that under certain well-defined circumstances it is possible that culling could make a contribution towards the reduction in incidence of cattle TB in hot spot areas. However, as there is a significant risk that any patchy, disorganised or short-term culling could make matters worse, the Committee could only recommend the licensed culling of badgers under section 10 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 if the applicants can demonstrate that culling would be carried out in accordance with the conditions agreed between the ISG and Sir David King, which indicated that there might be an overall beneficial effect. These were that culling should:

• be done competently and efficiently
• be coordinated
• cover as large an area as possible (265km² or more is the minimum needed to be 95% confident of an overall beneficial effect)
• be sustained for at least four years
• be in areas which have “hard” or “soft” boundaries where possible

We recommend that no application for a licence should be approved by Natural England, which already has statutory responsibility for the granting of culling licences, without scrutiny to ensure that it complies with the conditions set by the ISG and Sir David King. It is important that were such a cull approved, other control measures should also be applied. Any cull must also be properly monitored by Defra. It is unlikely that such culling would be sanctionable in more than a limited number of areas. We recognise that culling alone will never provide a universal solution to the problem.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has put forward a proposal for an organised licensed cull by farmers, or their contractors. They believe it would fulfil the conditions agreed by the ISG and Sir David King. If the NFU is able to meet the licensing requirements laid down by Defra, can satisfy Natural England both that it would conduct any cull in accordance with its animal welfare requirements and would satisfy the conditions agreed by the ISG and Sir David King, we accept that a licence for such a cull could be granted.

If Defra is to save expenditure in the long run it must continue to fund work to fill the gaps in the knowledge about cattle TB and the way it spreads. Central to this work must be an answer to the question of what is the precise mechanism of the infection between badger and cattle. Defra’s approach to future research into aspects of cattle TB must not be determined simply by its wish to reduce its overall level of spending on combating the disease.

The measures the Committee has recommended will require an increase in financial support from Defra. However, this is necessary if the Government wants to avoid ever-increasing expenditure forecast in future years, which could total as much as £1billion between now and 2013. Ministerial assertions, driven by Defra’s budgetary control problems, that the budget for cattle TB will be reduced are unrealistic. Defra has a continuing responsibility to seek to end the incidence of this disease just as it does with BSE. Defra is now justified in making a case to HM Treasury for a “spend to save” policy. But in so doing it will once and for all have to commit itself to a strategy with clear goals against which progress can be measured.

Commenting on the report, the Chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee the Rt Hon Michael Jack MP, said:

“This is a complex issue and there is no simple solution.  But I am pleased that the Report represents the unanimous view of the Committee.”

Ends