Cunningham shows EU best of British

11 May 1998

Cunningham shows EU best of British

JACK CUNNINGHAM, agriculture minister, has been taking fellow European Union (EU) agricultural ministers on a three-day tour of the Best of British.

The PR exercise is part of Cunninghams efforts to persuade European colleagues it is time to lift the ban on British beef.

The visitors, including Franz Fischler, the EU agriculture commissioner, will inspect a high-tech beef farming enterprise today at the 728ha (1,800 acre) Hulne Park Farm, part of the Duke of Northumberlands estate, at Alnwick.

All the cattle are fitted with an electronic ear-tag which carries identification number and other information which can be read by a scanner.

The ministers will also be given an audio-visual presentation of the new computerised cattle-tracing system that Cunningham hopes to have operating from September.

• The Times 11/05/98 page 6