The National Sheep Association (NSA) welcomes the concept of new meat labelling laws that differentiate between animals that are stunned at slaughter and those that are not, but urges Farming Minister George Eustice and his colleagues to progress the idea with caution.

Phil Stocker, NSA chief executive, said: "NSA fully recognises the importance of the ethnic market to sheep farmers and we agree that, although not ideal, it is unrealistic to think we could ban non-stun slaughter."

Mr Stocker said that given the level of confusion among consumers, it is right that labelling of non-stun meat is considered. But he warned: "It should be remembered there are a number of farm assurance schemes and labels that already prohibit the use of their logos on non-stunned products, and any development of non-stun information should be done in partnership with these organisations to avoid complicating labels.

"We should be aware of the unintended consequences of raising this issue among Muslim consumers, which could result in an increase in demand for non-stun products. We would suggest to the Government that its help and support in demonstrating that electric stunning is simply recoverable stunning that renders an animal unconscious prior to slaughter. If this could be demonstrated to the Muslim community it would go a long way to fulfilling their religious beliefs and reduce reliance on non-stun methods."

Proposals outlined

Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead has outlined the Scottish Government's proposals to have three categories under the National Reserve for Basic Payment entitlements.

l Category 1 will be for new entrants and young farmers who started farming in 2013 or later who will be able to apply to the National Reserve for entitlements to Basic Payments.

l Category 2 will be farmers who were not allocated entitlements to the Single Farm Payment or who were only allocated SFP entitlements through the New Entrant or Investor categories of the previous National Reserve in 2005. These farmers will be eligible to apply directly for entitlements to the new Basic Payments, however since these entitlements may initially be of low value the National Reserve option to top up the value of these entitlements to the regional average value will be used from day one.

l Category 3 of the new National Reserve will cover farmers who have been subject to Force Majeure.

Unlike under the old CAP, the National Reserve exercise can be repeated in future years to ensure that new entrants do not suffer from being frozen out.