NFU Scotland has urged the Scottish Government to “pick up the pace” in its efforts to strip bureaucracy and red tape out of farming.
The union’s sharp words come several months after well-known farming figure, Brian Pack, published his review into red tape, commissioned by Scottish Government. Pointing out that “no progress” had been made to date on the review’s findings, NFUS also said there were “examples of Scottish Government departments back-sliding on some of the reports’ 61 recommendations”.
Speaking at the Union’s Christmas press briefing, NFUS president Nigel Miller there was clear potential in the Pack initiative but not if the whole thing continued to “gather dust”.
Complaining about the government’s “gold-plated” approach to cattle movement reporting, which gives Scots farmers three days to report compared with the seven days allowed by Europe, Mr Miller added: “This is a step backwards and a worrying sign of an escalating penalty culture within Scottish Government rather than a commitment to improve communication and collaboration through smarter, risk-based traceability systems.”
The president concluded his pre-Christmas message by saying that he hoped the time for “dithering” was over and that the government would now give the Pack report the degree of importance it merited.