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taken until the procedures laid down in the Medicines Act and EC Law have been completed. The decision will reflect advice received from the independent expert advisory bodies established by the Act.Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the United Kingdom's representative on the European Community committee on veterinary medicines and products will be opposing the licensing of bovine somatotropin, following the recommendation on licensing of the Veterinary Products Committee.
Mr. Maclean : The committee on veterinary medicines and products is an advisory and not a licensing body. The United Kingdom representative's aim is to ensure that the committee on veterinary medicines and products's opinion fully reflects the Veterinary Products Committee's views.
Calves and Sheep
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the latest figures for the number of (a) calves and (b) sheep imported from eastern Europe and the percentage of the British and European Community markets that these imports represent.
Mr. Curry : For the year up to August 1990 there have been no imports of calves or sheep into the United Kingdom from eastern Europe.
Set-aside and Extensification Payments
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has any plans to increase set-aside and extensification payments.
Mr. Curry : The set-aside scheme payments for permanent and rotational fallow were increased for the third year of the scheme which began on 1 October. The pilot beef and sheep extensification schemes were only introduced in July of this year. I have no immediate plans for further increases.
Milk Producers
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received requesting that milk producers with less than 200,000 litres of quota should be exempted from any proposed reductions in quota ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : None. The Commission has made no formal proposals for a cut in quota, although the market situation certainly necessitates corrective action.
Wool Board
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many new registrations have been received by the wool board in 1988, 1989 and 1990 ; and what percentage of new registrations are from farmers previously engaged in cereal production.
Mr. Curry : I understand from the British wool marketing board that new producer registrations have been as follows :
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|Number
----------------------
1988 |8,000
1989 |7,200
<1>1990 |5,500
<1> To date.
The registration procedure does not record the previous occupation of producers registering. All producers with more than four sheep are required to register.
Beef Imports
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give details of the monthly imports of beef from the Irish Republic to the United Kingdom for each of the past 18 months.
Mr. Curry : The information requested is as follows :
United Kingdom imports of fresh, chilled and
frozen beef from the
Irish Republic
|(Tonnes product
| weight)
------------------------------------------------
1989
March |7,784
April |9,060
May |6,569
June |11,958
July |6,301
August |5,213
September |8,348
October |6,906
November |8,184
December |7,395
1990
January |7,549
February |6,822
March |8,704
April |8,134
May |7,117
June |3,127
July |3,112
August |4,363
Source: Her Majesty's Customs and Excise.
Green Pound
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received to make 1 January the date for the implementation of reductions in the green pound disparity ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : I have received numerous representations requesting that the devaluation of the green pound for sheepmeat agreed at the 1990 price settlement be brought forward to 1 January 1991. Green pound devaluations for individual commodities normally take place at the start of the marketing year for the commodity in question. The devaluations agreed at this year's price fixing have now taken place for all agricultural commodities except sheepmeat ; the green pound devaluation for sheepmeat will take place at the start of the sheepmeat marketing year on 7 January 1991. I do not believe that there is a case for departing from the normal rules for green pound devaluations so far as sheepmeat is concerned ; any change would in any case require a proposal from the European Commission and the agreement of the Agriculture Council.
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Ewe Headage Payments
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received about the limitation of ewe headage payments to existing numbers ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : We receive a wide variety of representations about the detailed operation of the rules governing the payment of sheep annual premium and hill livestock compensatory allowances. These rules are laid down by EC Regulation. We are not aware of any impending proposals from the European Commission to limit payments to existing ewe numbers.
Global Warming
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the relationship between European agricultural practices and global warming was raised at the European ministerial Agriculture Council on 12 to 17 November in Brussels.
Mr. Curry : The Agriculture Council scheduled for 12-13 November has been postponed until 27 November.
Bolton Visit
Mr. David Young : To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was his programme in Bolton on Wednesday 7 November ; and what was the cost of the visit including travel from London for him and his staff.
Mr. Maclean : My official programme entailed a tour of Morrisons' supermarket in Bolton, which formed part of a series of visits to assess food safety requirements in retail outlets and food distribution premises, and the opening of the Best Black Pudding in Great Britain competition. The cost of the visit, including travel costs for Ministry staff, was £231.20. I also attended a party-political lunch, for which there was no cost to the Ministry.
Broken Mouth Sheep
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received about the payment of subsidies in respect of broken mouth sheep ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Curry : Payments to sheep producers under the sheep annual premium and hill livestock compensatory allowance schemes are confined to animals which comply with the detailed rules for those schemes. We do, from time to time, receive representations suggesting changes in those rules.
Plastic Materials
Mr. Michael : To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends to implement EC directive 90/128 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs ; and under the provisions of which Act of Parliament it will be implemented.
Mr. Maclean : I hope to go out to consultation very shortly on draft regulations under the Food Safety Act 1990.
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Farmers
Mr. Nicholas Bennett : To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has as to (a) the number of farmers and (b) the number of farmers under the age of 35 years who left the industry in each year siince 1970.
Mr. Curry : Information on the number of farmers, partners and directors in the United Kingdom is published annually in "Agriculture in the United Kingdom" (before 1988 in the Annual Review of Agriculture White Paper). Data are not collected on farmers leaving the industry.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Burma
Sir David Steel : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action Her Majesty's Government propose to take in light of the continued harassment and detention of opposition leaders in Burma and the continued house arrest of Aung Sann Suu Kyi.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are in close touch with our EC partners and other like-minded countries about further measures to persuade the Burmese military regime to return to democratic civilian government and to release all political detainees.
Cambodia
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is United Kingdom policy at the United Nations with regard to moves to ban the sale of arms to the Khmer Rouge ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : The cessation of outside military assistance to all Cambodian parties is an integral part of the framework for a comprehensive political settlement agreed by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, including the United Kingdom. Both the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly have unanimously endorsed this framework which is now being elaborated by the co-chairmen of the Paris international conference on Cambodia.
Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made to United Kingdom foreign policy with regard to Cambodia over the past five years ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : I refer the hon. Member to the replies given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Mr. Lester) on 8 November 1989 and 26 March and 25 July 1990, together with the statement that I made on 26 October.
Hong Kong
Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' recommendations to
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the Hong Kong authorities in respect of (a) minimum internal space, (b) food and nutrition standards and (c) water and sanitation standards in Hong Kong have yet been met ; and if he will make a statement about the current position.Mr. Lennox-Boyd : I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the then Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 5 June.
Wherever possible, UNHCR recommendations have been adopted. In respect of food, nutrition, and water standards, this remains the position.
Although it has not yet been possible to meet recommendations on space standards and the provision of toilets, the expected opening in December of a new detention facility at Tai A Chau will, together with the relatively low arrival rate in 1990 enable some improvements to be made. Whether it will be possible to make further improvements in 1991, and thus to move even closer to UNHCR standards, will depend mainly on the inflow of new arrivals and the rate at which non-refugees can be returned to Vietnam.
Human Rights
Mr. Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government are setting any preconditions for British attendance at the Moscow human rights conference in 1991 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We shall agree to attend the CSCE conference on the human dimension in September 1991 in Moscow if the substantial progress made in the Soviet Union's human rights performance in recent years is sustained. We are keeping this under review.
Iraq
Mr. Warren : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will ask the French Government to investigate and report to the United Nations on whether any circumstances exist which require French assistance for Iraq's Exocet weapons systems ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : This is a matter for the French Government.
The Gulf (Oilfields)
Mr. Dalyell : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether the United Nations has any plans to assess the safety and security implications for the oilfields in the Gulf area of possible conflagration.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd : We are not aware of any United Nations plans to carry out such an assessment. For our part, we are fully aware that hostilities in the Gulf would have serious consequences of many kinds. Hence our determination to bring maximum pressure to bear on Saddam Hussein to comply with the Security Council resolutions in order to resolve the crisis.
Soviet Union
Mr. Lawrence : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further plans Her Majesty's Government have to help the process of economic reform in the Soviet Union.
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Mr. Douglas Hogg : We believe that the principal western contribution to economic reform in the Soviet Union should be multilateral. The European Community is committed to supporting reform in the USSR. Britain is pressing for concrete help in areas such as energy. The existing EC-USSR agreement provides a sound basis for greatly increased economic cooperation. We also look forward to the results of the IMF study of the Soviet economy which is expected to be ready by the end of the year.In addition, the Government have decided to establish a know-how fund for the Soviet Union. This will draw on
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the experience gained from the existing know -how fund for eastern Europe, but will be distinct. Its aim will be to transfer to the Soviet Union British skills and expertise. Help will be provided in close collaboration with the British private sector and will be targeted on four key sectors :-food distribution/agriculture -energy -small business formation -financial services
An initial sum of £20 million over two years has been allocated to the Soviet know-how fund.
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