To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when his Department finalised its guidance on the new rules for sheep and goat identification. (186049)

Guidance was finalised towards the end of 2007. It could not be finalised sooner because the consultation on the double tagging of sheep and goats did not conclude until 20 November. Guidance was distributed to all sheep and goat keepers on 4 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the time provided for the sheep and goat industry to prepare for the implementation of the livestock movements, identification and tracing: sheep and goats scheme; and if he will make a statement. (186272)

The derogation from double tagging of sheep was lost because of a high rate of non-compliance with the derogated rules by livestock keepers. Had we not acted quickly to introduce double tagging, sheep keepers throughout the UK could have faced disallowance for failure to comply with the rules set out in EU legislation. The consultation period given was therefore the maximum that could reasonably have been permitted in the circumstances.