Improvements to an IT system that relies on postcards could have
helped vets combat the UK's devastating foot and mouth outbreak,
experts said this week. The Government's British Cattle Movement
Service (BCMS) uses a combination of postcards and e-mails to
monitor the movement of 10 million cattle on its database. The
organisation has no central database for pigs although there are
plans to establish one for sheep. Farmers are allowed seven days
to update their cattle records. One source has claimed a
discrepancy of up to 30 cattle in one record kept by the BCMS.
Such differences hinder the tracking of livestock movements.
David Crellin, BCMS head of operations, said, "We are governed
by [European Union] regulations at the moment but the delay of
up to seven days is something for the [Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food] to consider, particularly in the light of
foot and mouth." The BCMS claimed there have been no problems
with the postcard system, although it admitted that cattle
markets tend to e-ma