Criticism over food scare
The Government was today accused of "frightening double standards" over the way it is handling the latest food scare by a Powys-based Welsh farmers' leader.
Gareth Vaughan, Farmers' Union of Wales president, who farms at Dolfor, near Newtown, was speaking out over the crisis created by the bird flu outbreak in Suffolk.
He said the growing suspicion the virus got into the turkey sheds from offcuts and waste from imported poultry meat was worrying.
It was reported 30 tonnes of turkey meat was imported from a Bernard Matthews plant in Hungary three days after the disease was diagnosed in Suffolk.
Mr Vaughan said: "If this has occurred then it begs serious questions about biosecurity measures, but what is of real concern is the fact it has taken almost a week for the Government to come clean on the issue.
"And it is the same Government drawing up proposals for farmers to share the costs of dealing with any future outbreaks of animal diseases such as bird flu, foot and mouth and BSE.
"There are frightening double standards at work here. Why should farmers be expected to pay in advance for dealing with potential diseases when the Government pays nothing more than lip service to the dangers?"
Mr Vaughan said, since the end of the foot and mouth crisis in 2001 which devastated the Mid Wales region, the FUW had been demanding tighter controls on imported meat.
He said: "Incredibly, the Government is allowing poultry meat to be processed alongside the Suffolk farm where 159,000 turkeys were culled last week.
