House of Commons Hansard Debates for 8 Mar 1990

Animal Welfare

40. Mr. Evennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to improve conditions of animal welfare throughout the European Community.

73. Mr. Day : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps are being taken to improve conditions of animal welfare throughout the European Community.

Mr. Maclean : In his written answer of 7 February to my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford (Mr. Shepherd) ( Official Report, column 712 ), my right hon. Friend

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explained that the community has already taken some action on animal welfare. However, he made it clear that further action is needed in a number of areas so that all countries in the Community operate to the same high standards for the keeping and transport of farm anumals.

61. Mr. John P. Smith : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on common European standards for animal welfare after 1992.

Mr. Maclean : As explained in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford (Mr. Shepherd) on 7 February, Official Report, column 712, I am determined that high standards of animal welfare should be adopted throughout the European Community.

64. Mr. Gareth Wardell : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the implications of the single European market for animal welfare.

Mr. Maclean : The Commission has made a number of proposals to harmonise standards of animal welfare in the Community, and will be making further proposals in due course. The implications will depend on the outcome of the negotiations, in which we shall be pressing for improved safeguards for animal welfare in a number of important areas.

Arable Farmers

41. Mr. Quentin Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what policy he is adopting towards the European Community price fixing which would be of advantage to arable farmers.

62. Mr. Wood : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what policies he is adopting at European Community price-fixing negotiations which would be of advantage to arable farmers.

Mr. Curry : We are seeking a substantial devaluation of the green pound ; we are pressing for the basic cereals co-responsibility levy to be replaced by matching price cuts ; and we are strongly supporting the Commission's proposals to maintain the present definition of double-low rapeseed for a further year.

European Community Agriculture Ministers

43. Mr. Macdonald : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met with European Community Ministers of Agriculture ; and what was discussed.

Mr. Gummer : I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Eastwood (Mr. Stewart) on 7 March.

Dairy Sector

46. Mr. Knox : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next intends to meet the chairman of the Milk Marketing Board to discuss the dairy sector.

Mr. Curry : My right hon. Friend and I have regular meetings with the chairman of the Milk Marketing Board, and with other industry leaders, to discuss the dairy sector.

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Milk Marketing Board

47. Mr. Brazier : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what marketing opportunities he envisages being created by reforming the Milk Marketing Board.

Mr. Curry : It is not for Government to identify marketing opportunities. But I am concerned that the milk marketing arrangements should encourage innovation and enable the industry to take advantage of changing market opportunities. I am encouraging the Milk Marketing Board and the Dairy Trade Federation to pursue their discussions with a view to devising arrangements suited to the 1990s.

Tyrell Committee

48. Dr. Marek : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he intends to implement any more of the recommendations of the Tyrell committee.

Mr. Gummer : Work is already in hand or planned on all the projects recommended by the Tyrell committee as urgent or of high priority. It is essential to devote expertise and resources to the priority work but we will keep the recommended research of a lower priority under review. In total the Government will be spending over £12 million in the next three years on BSE-related research.

Farmers (Countryside Custodians)

50. Mr. Robert Hicks : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what policies he is pursuing in order to emphasise to farmers their role as custodians of the countryside.

Mr. Curry : The Department provides a range of incentives including the environmentally sensitive areas, farm and conservation grants and farm woodland schemes, together with general and specialised advice on conservation aimed at encouraging farmers to protect and enhance the countryside.

Overseas Food Fairs

52. Mr. Ken Hargreaves : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which overseas food fairs and exhibitions his Department has attended since July 1989.

Mr. Curry : Since July 1989, the following fairs and exhibitions have been attended by Ministers and officials of my Department : 16 October 1989--Anuga food fair, Cologne

25 January 1990--Berlin green week

6 February 1990--ISM Sweets and biscuits fair Cologne

I regard it as most important that British companies should receive maximum encouragement in their efforts to penetrate overseas markets.

Herrings

54. Mr. Ron Brown : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the volume of herrings landed in England and Wales last year ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Curry : Provisional figures for the volume of herrings landed in England and Wales in 1989 are 1,324 tonnes by United Kingdom and foreign vessels.

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Veterinary Product Licensing

55. Dr. Kim Howells : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the average British fees for veterinary product licensing ; and what are the comparable level of fees levied in other EC countries.

Mr. Maclean : A wide range of fees is charged for veterinary medicines licensing based on an estimate of the full economic cost of assessing each type of application. I do not have sufficient information to make a useful comparison with fees charged in other EC countries or the basis on which they are set.

Covent Garden Market Authority

57. Miss Hoey : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met the chairman of the Covent Garden Market Authority ; and what was discussed.

Mr. Curry : I last met the chairman of the Covent Garden Market Authority on 1 March when we discussed a number of matters of mutual interest on the present and future operation of the market. I am now able to announce my conclusions following the study commissioned last year into the future of the Covent Garden market.

I have decided that in principle legislation should be presented, at a suitable opportunity, to dispose of the assets of the authority.

As foreshadowed in my reply to the hon. Member's question on 27 February, [ Official Report, column 108 ], I am today arranging for a summary of the report to be placed in the Library of the House. I am also today writing to the chairman of the Market Tenants Association to inform him of this decision and will see that tenants' views are taken into account in framing detailed proposals. The authority will be shortly opening negotiations with the tenants about new leases to replace those that expire in March 1991.

Horticultural Research

59. Mr. Hind : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what restructuring of horticultural research he has achieved in the last six months.

Mr. Curry : The Department is working closely with the Department of Education and Science and the Agricultural and Food Research Council, in consultation with representatives of the horticulture industry, to set up a new unified organisation for horticultural research based on a reconstituted British Society for Horticultural Research. The new BSHR will be the principal contractor for horticultural research and development in the United Kingdom and will carry out the bulk of Government-funded horticultural research. We believe the new organisation will provide both Government and industry with a more efficient and effective R and D service while maintaining the highest scientific standards.

Poultry Health Regulations

60. Mr. Colin Shepherd : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has recently received about the Poultry Health Regulations.

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Mr. Maclean : I have received representations on various aspects of the salmonella control measures, including the cost of testing, the effect on rare breed flocks and the level of compensation paid when flocks are compulsorily slaughtered. There has been recognition of the steps which the Government have been able to take in response to these concerns. Representations have also been received on the European Commission proposal for a Council regulation laying down health rules for the production and placing on the market of fresh poultry meat to replace European Community directive 71/118. Most of the representations have expressed concern about the need for the on-farm production of poultry meat and for uneviserated poultry.

Stubble Burning

63. Sir Michael McNair-Wilson : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had about his intention to end stubble burning.

Mr. Curry : There have been discussions with the National Farmers Union and the Country Landowners Association. These consultations, which are continuing, are focused on the scope of the limited exemptions foreseen in my right hon. Friend's statement of 30 November 1989 and on the strengthening of the National Farmers Union's code of practice in the period leading up to the proposed prohibition.

Food Safety

65. Mr. Alan W. Williams : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his Department's response to the recommendations in the report of the committee on the microbiological safety of food.

Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Health to my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Mr. Knox) on 15 February, Official Report, columns 398-99.

Wheat and Bread

66. Mr. Ashby : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends answering the question from the hon. Member for Leicestershire, North-West put down for answer on 18 January, asking for the comparative prices of wheat and bread over the last five years.

Mr. Curry : A reply was sent to my hon. Friend on 28 February 1990, Official Report, column 242.

Pesticides

67. Mr. Dunnachie : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his review of pesticides.

Mr. Maclean : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) on 8 February, Official Report, column 728.

77. Mr. Martyn Jones : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Advisory Committee on Pesticides last met ; and what matters were discussed.

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Mr. Maclean : The Advisory Committee on Pesticides last met on 25 January. The main items discussed were : requests for approval of three new pesticides ; reviews of four existing approvals ; a draft code of practice for the use of pesticides on farms and holdings and two survey reports on pesticides usage in Scotland.

Beef Exports

68. Mr. Cox : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the amount of beef being exported to western Europe ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Curry : The amount of beef exported from the United Kingdom to western Europe in 1989 was 111,998 tonnes.

EC and EFTA countries, Malta, Cyprus and Gibraltar.

Reconstituted Meat

69. Mr. Harris : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking with regard to meat reconstituted with blood plasma gel.

Mr. Maclean : Should a company decide to use this technique for the preparation of meat products it would need to ensure that the product was safe and labelled in accordance with the Food Labelling Regulations 1984. This would apply equally to home-produced and imported products. In particular, those regulations require that food labels carry details of any process which the product has undergone where the omission of such detail would mislead the consumer, details of any ingredients used in the product which would include blood enzymes, and a name for the food which would distinguish it from any other foodstuff with which it might be confused.

Misleading labelling of food is an offence under the Food Act 1984. It is not for me to suggest particular forms of words for labels. A company would need to decide what description of this or any similar process would adequately explain to its intended customers the exact nature of the foodstuff. Trading standards officers are responsible for enforcing the law : I expect that they were already aware of the development of this process but my officials have drawn the matter to their attention.

The labelling rules apply equally to catering supplies as they do to retail sales. As part of its current labelling review I have already asked the Food Advisory Committee to look at the difficult matter of information provided to customers in restaurants, cafes or other catering outlets.

I was made aware only recently of the process that has been developed in the Netherlands but I have no indications that it produces a foodstuff which is unsafe.

The process has been developed by a very reputable Dutch institute and the data available so far to my Department do not indicate any need for us to enage in our own research.

It would be a commercial decision for a British company to choose to use this technique in the production of its meat products. I am not aware of any company that has so decided nor is it my understanding that any such products are currently being marketed in the United Kingdom, or in the Netherlands.

However, my Department is monitoring developments closely and I will take any further action that seems appropriate in the interests of either food safety or consumer protection.

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National Farmers Union AGM

71. Mr. Michael Latham : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on his recent visit to the annual general meeting of the National Farmers Union at Kensington town hall.

Mr. Gummer : I was very glad to have the opportunity to address the annual general meeting of the National Farmers Union. Copies of my speech are in the Library of the House. I underlined the vital role which farmers play in our national life : as an efficient and competitive industry, as the guarantors of our food supply and as the guardians of our countryside. I also made plain our determination to ensure that United Kingdom farmers have a fair deal in Europe, in particular through a substantial devaluation of the green pound.

Consumers Association

72. Mr. Tony Lloyd : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met the Consumers Association to discuss food-related issues ; and what matters were discussed.

Mr. Maclean : My right hon. Friend last met the Consumers Association on 15 January 1990. They discussed a wide range of issues including the Food Safety Bill, food irradiation and the Department's consumer panel.

Milk Quota

75. Mrs. Ann Winterton : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he will be seeking EC approval for in respect of the distribution of additional milk quota in 1990.

Mr. Gummer : My proposals were that quota should be allocated to producers who received awards from the dairy produce quotas tribunal which were scaled back and have not yet been fully implemented ; to smaller producers ; to producers in remote areas, principally the islands of Scotland and the Scilly Isles ; and to new entrants. The Commission raised a number of points in connection with these proposals. With one exception, which concerns my proposal to loan quota to new entrants rather than grant it outright, all points of difficulty have now been satisfactorily resolved and I am awaiting formal Commission agreement. Regulations will then be laid before Parliament and the majority of the quota issued before the end of the current quota year.

Farmers' Unions

76. Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met leaders of the farmers' unions ; and what matters were discussed.

Mr. Gummer : I meet leaders of the farmers' unions frequently to discuss various agricultural matters.

I met the presidents of the National Farmers Union, the Scottish National Farmers Union and the Ulster Farmers Union on 30 January to discuss the state of the agriculture industry and the European Community's farm price proposals.

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Set-aside Scheme

81. Mr. Cryer : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much land has been included in the set-aside scheme ; and what is the cost to the most recent practicable date.

Mr. Curry : A total of 110,000 hectares of land has so far been set aside in the United Kingdom. The cost of payments in the current financial year is about £11 million.

Industrial Wastes

Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to require industrial wastes presently being dumped in the North sea to be stored on land until land- based disposal facilities have been developed.

Mr. Curry : No. As my right hon. Friend announced on 22 February, Official Report, column 899, it is our intention that, with two possible short-term exceptions, industrial wastes will not continue to be dumped at sea after 1992. In certain circumstances short-term storage may have a useful part to play in waste management, but in general it is neither practicable nor environmentally desirable for the industrial wastes which are currently dumped at sea.

Mr. Malcolm Bruce : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many licences to dump chemical industrial wastes in the North sea will be terminated by 31 December 1992 ; and how many will continue to be in force :

(2) what percentage of chemical industrial wastes dumped in the North sea will be terminated by 31 December 1992 ; and what percentage will continue.

Mr. Curry : It is my intention that all licences to dispose of industrial wastes in the North sea covered by the 1987 North sea declaration will be terminated by 31 December 1992. For two of the wastes, however, involving 77 per cent. of the current total annual licensed tonnage, it might not be technically feasible to meet this deadline. I will extend the licences for these last two wastes into 1993 only if absolutely necessary on technical grounds and for the shortest possible part of that year.

Sheep Dips

Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the continued use of

organophosphorous sheep dips.

Mr. Maclean : As I told the hon. Member for Caerphilly (Mr. Davies) on 25 January Official Report, column 821 my Department will begin this year a review of ectoparasiticide product licences which will include licensed organophosphorous sheep dips.

Veterinary Surgeons

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are his Department's future plans for training veterinary surgeons ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Maclean : The arrangement of courses for those wishing to obtain veterinary degrees is a matter for the

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veterinary colleges. My Department ensures that the veterinary surgeons which it employs are properly trained for their duties. The action which the Government are taking in response to the Page committee's report on the review of veterinary manpower and education was announced in a reply given to the hon. Member for Clydebank and Milngavie (Mr. Worthington) on 31 January.

Poultry (Slaughter)

Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate what the total value of the birds compulsorily slaughtered under the provisions of the Zoonoses Order 1989 and the Animal Health Act 1981 would have been had they been sent to processors for use as cooked poultry meat.

Mr. Maclean : Estimates relating to this hypothetical situation are not available.

Mr. J. J. Cato

Mr. Aitken : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the man hours taken by officials in his Department in their administrative, clerical and legal functions relating to Mr. J. J. Cato's application for a decommissioning grant and the subsequent legal actions and appeals.

Mr. Maclean : The information can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Aitken : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total cost of his Department's legal expenses to date in the case of J. J. Cato v. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Mr. Maclean : Payments of stationery costs and counsel's fees in the case brought by Mr. J. J. Cato were £6,058.

Spent Hens

Mrs. Gorman : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the typical sale price for a spent hen currently paid to an egg producer by a processor.

Mr. Curry : We estimate that the typical selling price for an end-of -lay hen is currently between 55p and 60p.

Fish Catches

Mr. Matthew Taylor : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reasons he ascribes to the substantial drop in volume of fish catches off the Tyneside coast ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Curry : The fall in landings in the first two months of 1990 at the main north-east coast ports compared with the same period in 1989 largely reflects the recent bad weather. During 1990 as a whole another factor will be that as North sea round fish stocks, in particular of cod and haddock, are lower total allowable catches in 1990 have been reduced to assist the recovery of such stocks.

Food Advisory Committee

Mr. Sean Hughes : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the Food Advisory Committee last met ; and what matters were discussed.

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Mr. Maclean : The independent Food Advisory Committee last met on 25 January 1990 when it discussed matters concerned with its review of food labelling ; the use of the preservative thiabendazole ; the presence of tin in canned foods and the second food surveillance group report on plasticisers levels in food contact materials in food. Subsequently it held a joint meeting with the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes to discuss matters of mutual interest.

North Sea Haddock

Mr. Cran : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what arrangements are being made to reduce United Kingdom fishing for North sea haddock in 1990.

Mr. Curry : At its meeting last December, the EC Council of Fisheries Ministers and the Commission agreed that, because of the seriously depleted state of the North sea haddock stock, any member state with a quota exceeding 10 per cent. of the Community share of the stock should reduce its fishing for that stock in 1990 by 30 per cent. The United Kingdom's 1990 quota is 87 per cent. of the Community's share of the stock.

Following consultations with fishing industry organisations, we have decided that United Kingdom vessels over 10 m overall length which in 1989 landed more than 40 tonnes of North sea haddock and more than 10 per cent. of whose total landings in 1989 consisted of North sea haddock should either not fish in the North sea on more than 92 days during the remainder of this year or be limited, when fishing for demersal fish in the North sea, to using and carrying gear with 110 mm mesh and of specified conformation designed to ensure that it is substantially more selective than the 90 mm mesh nets normally permitted for demersal fisheries in the North sea. Landings of North sea haddock by vessels not covered by these new arrangements will be subject to restrictions designed to avoid any increase in effort against this stock. Producer organisations (POs) with sectoral allocations of North sea haddock are also being asked to regulate their members' landings so that they do not take more than 60 per cent of their allocations by 1 July and no more than 85 per cent. by 1 October : fishing by the non sector will be regulated similarly.

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