THERE was a "catalogue of failures on every issue" in the handling of the foot and mouth crisis said the National Farmers' Union in a report this week.

"The lessons of the 1967 outbreak were clearly ignored in 2001," said president Ben Gill. "The Government was ill-prepared, overwhelmed and, too often, incompetent."

He added: "This time they must listen."

The report, called 'Lessons to be Learned', lists a series of recommendations and criticisms including:

Import controls - inadequate and - worse - there are no clear signs of any improvement.

Control strategy - Resources were poorly co-ordinated and were quickly overwhelmed, leading to a rapid spread of the epidemic. There was a failure to widely apply successful biosecurity schemes. The contiguous cull - while necessary - was applied too rigidly.

Movement controls - Inadequate resourcing and preparation of licensing systems.

Cleansing and disinfection - Lack of proper control from the centre and repeated delays and mistakes in issuing contracts.

Among the 28 recommendations: Import controls must be improved; there must be better contingency planning; further scientific research is needed to ensure more flexible control strategies; communication failures must be addressed.

Updated: 08:42 Thursday, January 24, 2002