To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on electronic identification of sheep. (116068)

European Council Regulation 21/2004 requires the introduction of electronic identification (EID) of sheep and goats from 1 January 2008. The European Commission is required to publish a report on the implementation of EID and proposals to confirm or amend the 2008 mandatory date. Their report has been delayed but is expected shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated cost is of implementing EU Regulation 21/2004, on electronic identification, for an average-sized (a) market and (b) slaughterhouse. (116069)

In England, we have produced a partial Regulatory Impact Assessment on the introduction of electronic identification (EID) for sheep and goats. This document is a work in progress. However, current estimates are set out in the following table:

These costs are based on current prices and it is expected that they will reduce considerably as technology improves and economies of scale are exploited.

We do not hold information on the costs to average-sized markets and slaughterhouses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he plans to apply for a derogation from EU Regulation 21/2004 on electronic identification. (116070)

Council Regulation 21/2004 provides a derogation from the need to electronically identify animals, where the total numbers of sheep and goats is less than 600,000 or where the total number of goats is less than 160,000. In the UK, as the number of sheep is above the threshold, we cannot take advantage of this derogation. We can, however, take advantage of the derogation for goats and will be consulting the industry on this.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated cost is of implementing EU Regulation 21/2004 on electronic identification on an average-sized flock of sheep. (116071)

England has produced a partial Regulatory Impact Assessment on the introduction of electronic identification (EID) for sheep and goats. This document is a work in progress. However, current estimates of the cost of implementing the regulation are set out in the following table:

These costs are based on current prices and there is an expectation that they will reduce considerably as technology improves and economies of scale are exploited.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average size of a flock of sheep is in each European Union member state. (116072)

In the UK in 2005, a total of just under 24 million sheep and lambs were farmed on 88,990 holdings, giving an average flock size of 270.

Due to the varying levels of sheep meat production across the European Union, and the fact that several member states farm sheep at a barely commercial level, there are no readily available records of average flock sizes for all member states.

Figures are available for total sheep populations for each country and these are as follows: