Hopes fade for livestock deal
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by Ian Wylie • Hopes of salvaging the 1200m cross-Channel livestock trade were dashed this week as ferry companies dismissed a Government-imposed code of conduct for hauliers as "too little, too late".
Agriculture minister William Waldegrave has proposed measures to prosecute hauliers who neglect farm animals on long journeys. The draft code of practice requires all hauliers to fill out a journey plan, authorised by a Government vet, for trips lasting more than 15 hours including provisions for lairages or staging posts.
Waldegrave wants false declarations to carry a penalty of £ 1,000 for each animal and possibly a one-month jail sentence. Interested parties have until 18 October to comment on the proposals, but the three main crossChannel operators have already said the code is not enough for then 'l to change their restrictions on livestock transport. (CM 4-10 August).
The Road Haulage Association's livestock manager, Ben Mcguire, says the code will be difficult to police: "The nub of the problem is that ferry passengers don't like the smell or noise of livestock and a code of practice isn't going to resolve it. Ferry companies need to be persuaded to run separate services for passengers and livestock."
But Eddie Harper, chairman of the RHA livestock carriers group, fears livestock trade is insufficiently lucrative for ferry operators to run dual services: "It's very conceivable ferry companies will walk away from the business altogether and that would be disastrous for hauliers," he says.
See next week's issue for an evaluation of the effect of the livestock ferry ban.
• P&O European Ferries wants legislation in force well before it will consider rescinding its decision to ban livestock except breeding animals from 1 October. Steno Sealink has taken a similar stance. But industry sources suggest Brittany Ferries may take a more haulierFriendly line: it is currently accepting livestock for fattening in Brittany, Normandy and the Loire Valley.