Horsemeat scandal: farmers 'must not bear cost of tighter regulation'

Source: guardian

Hard-pressed farmers have warned that they could be driven out of business if they are forced to pay for tighter regulation and testing as a result of the horsemeat scandal.

"Profit margins on beef are wafer thin and not sufficient to bear additional costs," said Charles Sercombe, chairman of the National Farmers Union's (NFU) livestock board, at the union's annual conference in Birmingham.

He spoke after Philip Clarke, chief executive of Tesco, told the conference that the UK's biggest supermarket would source more meat in the UK and step up scrutiny of suppliers, including installing video cameras at their factories.

That prompted a string of farmers to warn that they could not cope with extra red tape as a result. One farmer said: "That cost cannot come back to us. We are not making any money out of the system and if it comes back to us you won't have beef, chicken, lamb or pork producers."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/27/horsemeat-scandal-farmers-tighter-regulation