Rog Wood | The Herald

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, has agreed to a formal application to Brussels to recognise Scotland as TB free.

Scotland's chief veterinary officer, Simon Hall, will present evidence to support the application during the next meeting of the Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health to be held on September 8.

The number of confirmed TB cases in Scotland has now been at a consistently low level over a sustained number of years, that it meets the criteria required for Officially Tuberculosis Free (OFT) status.

The move was generally welcomed by the farming industry as it should help to prevent the importation of the disease from south of the border where TB is rampant.

Since the start of 2007, 4822 cattle have come to Scotland from an area with low incidence of disease that had previously been in an area with high incidence.

As a result of coming from a low incidence area none of these were subjected to post movement testing and provide an ongoing low risk of introducing disease.

When Scotland achieves OFT status it will implement rigorous new testing requirements for imported cattle that could seriously affect the cross border trade in store cattle, an issue of particular concern to auctioneers.

Fortunately the process of seeking OFT status is likely to take many months to complete and has no implications for the coming autumn store sales.

Richard Lochhead commented: "TB free status would be a big feather in the cap of Scotch beef producers and will further improve access to new and existing markets.

"Full consideration has been given to the potential impact of TB free status on the industry and any subsequent checks which would need to be imposed on cattle being brought into Scotland. We are confident that we can minimize any potential impact on the industry."

NFU Scotland vice- president Nigel Miller, a Borders livestock farmer and vet, welcomed the move but was concerned about the impact for those Scottish producers who traditionally source store stock from south of the border and the markets involved in the trade.