To ask Her Majesty's Government how many sheep will be implanted when the compulsory electronic individual identification of sheep in the United Kingdom is fully implemented. [HL893]

All sheep identified in England on or after 31 December 2009, with the exception of those animals intended for slaughter within 12 months of age, will need to be electronically identified.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what will be the cost per sheep, including the cost of physical implantation, implant monitoring equipment and implant removal, of the compulsory electronic individual identification of sheep in the United Kingdom once fully implemented. [HL894]

Detailed information about the cost of implementation is contained in the regulatory impact assessment on electronic identification of sheep and goats. This is available on the Defra website.

An updated version to take account of changes to the regulation that were negotiated over the summer and more detailed implementation options will accompany the consultation that is planned for the spring.

To ask Her Majesty's Government where and how records will be kept of individual sheep movements when the compulsory electronic individual identification of sheep in the United Kingdom is fully implemented. [HL895]

Individual records will be kept in the farm holding register and included in movement documents.

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff will be employed in monitoring the records of sheep movements when the compulsory electronic individual identification of sheep in the United Kingdom is fully implemented. [HL896]

This is a matter for local authorities, which are responsible for enforcement of the sheep identification rules.

Statutory on-farm sheep and goat inspections will also be carried out in England by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). The RPA employs in excess of 260 full-time equivalent multi-skilled inspectors, who conduct a range of farm and trader inspections under CAP and UK schemes, and at least 220 of whom are trained in sheep and goats inspections. These inspectors will have their skills enhanced to encompass electronic identification inspection requirements.

To ask Her Majesty's Government what benefits the electronic individual identification of sheep will bring compared with existing ear-tagging procedures; and whether it will improve traceability. [HL897]

Independent epidemiological modelling has identified that the introduction of electronic identification (EID) and individual recording could reduce costs of managing an outbreak of exotic disease over the current UK system by up to 13 per cent, as a result of fewer infected premises and fewer animals being culled. It will also improve our ability to track individual animal movements.

The direct financial benefits to the UK of implementing EID in accordance with EU law is a reduced risk of single farm payment disallowance and of EU infraction proceedings.

There will also be management benefits for those farmers who want to make use of EID and gather individual performance data to make their businesses more profitable. This could benefit such things as flock health status, lambing ratios, carcase quality, weight, milk yield et cetera.