Following the European Court of Auditors scrutiny of the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease last week (see leatherbiz.com 26.11), the court has decided to reduce the funding that Great Britain will receive from £900 million ($1.704 million) to £349 million ($660 million). This means that the British taxpayers will have to provide the £600 million shortfall in funds.
The outbreak, in which approximately ten million animals died, is said to have cost Britain somewhere in the region of £8 billion. The British government originally claimed £1.6 billion, but once this was refused, it was believed that £900 million would be allocated. However, with the court’s decision to pay only £349 million, it falls to the taxpayers to pay the rest.
