In the news recently have been several stories that, together, serve to illustrate separate but related issues emerging in the meat supply chain. First we hear of record high deadweight prices for cattle and sheep, precipitated by a drop in livestock numbers that will take a long time to correct. This has opened up lucrative opportunities for criminal gangs to shift illegal meat into the UK market.

We also see a big uptick in the incidents of livestock theft at the same time that illegal shipments of meat are coming in increased numbers through our ports. This last issue has been taken up by DUP MP Carla Lockhart after 600kg of smuggled meat was finally apprehended at Larne border control after passing undetected through three others on the mainland. Ms Lockhart said she will be writing to Defra calling for an urgent review of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), branding it “inadequate.”

On the issue of livestock theft, it’s worth noting that while some sheep are slaughtered at the site of the theft, many more end up going through livestock markets and onto farms after their ear tags have been removed. This, along with the recent foot and mouth scare, highlights the need for government to make traceability mandatory. The system is already in place; the industry stands ready and waiting to implement it; and it would at once crack down on livestock theft as well as provide a real-time ability to halt animal movements and prevent the spread of disease.