TWO THOUSAND jobs and 20pc of auction marts could be lost if a proposed 20-day standstill period for livestock is introduced.

The Livestock Auctioneers' Association says the government proposal would be dangerously damaging to the whole livestock industry as well as unworkable and unenforceable.

This week the Farm Animal Welfare Council also sent its detailed concerns to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The former Ministry of Agriculture had put forward the standstill period to try to stop the spread of diseases such as foot-and-mouth.

It would mean that, if any animal was taken on to a farm, no others could leave it for 20 days.

Mr David Brown, national LAA secretary, said the LAA council "rejects in its entirety the detail and the principles associated with the proposal".

With the whole system of UK livestock farming based on stock movement from breeding to finishing areas, he said, the proposals would totally inhibit the present management of farms.

The LAA has surveyed 87 of its 177 livestock mart members and 20pc said they would almost certainly close, resulting in large-scale redundancies in full and part-time staff.

The survey found that about 3,750 people were employed in markets in England and Wales of which 55pc - 2,057 - could lose their jobs if the standstill were introduced.

The LAA claims that, without the open market system, returns to all would be less, with small producers suffering the most.

Almost inevitably cattle and sheep would be on contiguous holdings which would nullify any bio-security advantage.

Many farms now employ contract staff and other workers who travel to several different farms a week. Collection and delivery vehicles move between farms and would have to call during the 20-day periods.

Meanwhile, the FAWC has also expressed grave misgivings about the proposal.

Mrs Judy MacArthur Clark, chairman, said members acknowledged the impact multiple movements of sheep had on the spread of foot-and-mouth, but they were very concerned that the proposed rigid 20-day standstill would undermine the viability of sheep husbandry systems.

"This has the potential to create significant welfare problems for the animals trapped within non-viable systems," she said.

Effective methods of individual identification, particularly of sheep, were essential before any standstill periods could be reliably introduced and enforced.

"We also believe remarkable improvements in welfare and disease control could be gained through tighter enforcement of the existing markets and transport legislation," said Mrs MacArthur Clark. However, additional resources would be required.

Overall, FAWC was convinced that any policy of imposed standstill periods should be carefully thought through and all practical problems addressed in detail, so that unforeseen welfare problems were not inadvertently introduced.