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Potato Brown Rot
4. Mr. Alexander: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he is making in controlling the problem of potato brown rot. [11268]
The Minister for Rural Affairs (Mr. Tim Boswell): Following last year's outbreaks in the Netherlands, the European Community adopted a series of controls, which the Government have supplemented with further measures to provide safeguards for our industry against spread of this disease.
Mr. Alexander: Is it not the case that, although we must not overreact about the disease because it appeared
in the Netherlands recently, nevertheless a recent consignment of potato seed from Holland cleared the Dutch authorities and was found, when it entered this country, to contain brown rot? Is my hon. Friend satisfied with the controls in Holland? Do they comply fully with European Union requirements?
Mr. Boswell: I thank my hon. Friend for those questions and comments. One consignment of Dutch seed potatoes into the United Kingdom was found to have evidence of brown rot--although the diagnosis has not yet been confirmed--and that raises the question of the validity of the Dutch tests. I can tell my hon. Friend that although the Dutch tests vary slightly from ours, they are very much in line with the requirements of the European Union. The only difference is that we impose as a further safeguard an additional set of tests, which very much reduces the risk of the disease reaching this country.
Mr. John D. Taylor: As the Minister made it clear in his initial reply that he has powers to supplement the restrictions recommended by the European Community, why does not he place a temporary ban on the importation of seed potatoes from the Netherlands?
Mr. Boswell: What was clear from our earlier exchanges is that we do indeed have powers to supplement, but they must be properly proportionate to the risk. We have considered this carefully and notified the European Commission of the action that we are taking. We have received wide support in the industry for the proportionate action that we are taking and are satisfied that it is appropriate to the risk as we perceive it today. We shall continue to monitor the position, and if there is a need for further action, we would, of course, be prepared to take it.
Apples (Intervention System)
5. Sir Roger Moate: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about progress in the phasing out of the intervention system for apples. [11269]
Mr. Boswell: Discussions are continuing on reform of the regime for fresh fruit and vegetables on the basis of the Commission's proposals. The Government welcome them as a useful first step towards our goal of an end to intervention for all fresh produce.
Sir Roger Moate: I thank my hon. Friend for not being rushed into a bad compromise that would divert us from the ultimate goal of getting rid of the intervention system altogether. Does he agree that, in most years, the system results in almost 1 million tonnes of apples being grown just to be destroyed, at immense cost, largely to the British taxpayer as a major contributor, and that it undermines our ability to sell the best apples in the world--British Coxes and other fine apples? It is an unacceptable system, and we must phase it out before too long.
Mr. Boswell: I have every sympathy with what my hon. Friend said. The intervention system is extremely wasteful. It is damaging to the interests of the United Kingdom: both to the taxpayer, who has to pay a large share of the burden for a small portion of the total
intervention, amounting to only 1 per cent. of the total Community spend, and to the interests of our growers, because it replaces good fruit from this country with surpluses of unrealistic and uneconomic production on the back of large intervention, with the French taking more than one third of their apples into intervention in the last recorded year. It is an unsatisfactory system, and we oppose it. We are determined to make major changes, and not to make concessions by reaching an early and unsatisfactory conclusion.
Mrs. Golding: Is the Minister aware that the draft regulations on the European Union fruit and vegetable regime underline the high price that the country is paying for his Government's lack of influence in Europe? Why are we threatened with such a bad deal for British growers, involving the continuance of waste and, in all probability, fraud? Why have Ministers let us down yet again in Europe?
Mr. Boswell: I am sorry that the hon. Lady has decided to introduce a note of asperity to discussions that have generally featured a measure of consensus, both in the industry and between the parties in Committee here. We shall do our utmost, because, unlike the Labour party, we are not prepared to commit ourselves not to be isolated in Europe. If we think that we are right, we shall stick by our principles, and resist the proposals of the countries--many with socialist Administrations--that account for the greater part of the intervention, the greater part of the cost and nearly all the abuse.
Sir Colin Shepherd: Is my hon. Friend aware that we make more cider in Hereford than is made anywhere else in the world? Cider manufacturers who are crying out for raw material in the form of apple juice find it immensely frustrating to see enormous quantities of apples being destroyed when they could be juiced to make apple juice and cider. Will my hon. Friend put continuing pressure on the system, as it is essential that we end that frustration?
Mr. Boswell: I understand my hon. Friend's concern, and that of the cider industry. Although the industry has been generally buoyant in recent years, the problem with allowing it access to intervention stocks is that that might have a displacement effect on apples offered commercially for cider production. We think that, on the whole, ending or curtailing the intervention system is a better and more market-related approach.
Foodstuffs (Chemicals)
6. Ms Quin: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what new proposals he has concerning the use of chemicals on foodstuffs. [11270]
Mrs. Browning: Our controls are constantly reviewed in the light of scientific developments.
Ms Quin: Have the Government any new proposals to inform consumers about the chemical and pesticide treatment that may have been applied to fresh fruit and vegetables--apples, potatoes and carrots, for example? Why is it that, although consumers are rightly entitled
to detailed information about what is in processed and packaged foods, they are given almost no information about fresh fruit and vegetables?
Mrs. Browning: I am pleased to say that today I announced the establishment of a pesticides forum--that was a commitment in the rural White Paper--which will bring together interested parties, and which will naturally include consumers. I hope that the forum will help to put more information into the public domain. I shall send the hon. Lady a copy of the press release that went out today.
Mr. Lord: The EC directive on nitrates in drinking water is causing great concern to my farming constituents in Suffolk. Does my hon. Friend realise just how little evidence there is of the way in which nitrate levels in drinking water affect human health? Is she aware of the great problems that nitrate-vulnerable zones will cause Suffolk farmers? May I urge her and her colleagues, as a matter of the greatest urgency, first to look at the way in which the system will be introduced--because it is flawed and will cause great problems--and secondly to consider whether we need this mad directive in the first place? That is even more important. In fact, nitrates are not doing a great deal of harm.
Mrs. Browning: The Ministry receives scientific advice from independent expert committees. I am sure that, if my hon. Friend has further scientific evidence that he wishes us to consider, we shall be pleased to receive it.
Mr. Skinner: Have the Government noted the campaign to stop the use of the pesticide Lindane? A number of reports suggest a direct link with breast cancer. In Lincolnshire, the incidence rate is one in eight, whereas I believe that it is about one in 12 in the rest of the country. There is evidence that where Lindane has been banned--in Israel, for example--the rate has fallen dramatically. If that is the case, will the Ministry re-examine the position with a view to banning the pesticide?
Mrs. Browning: I am happy to assure the hon. Gentleman that we always consider scientific advice and the sort of information that he has brought before the House. I reiterate that our decisions are based on scientific advice, and therefore I assure him that I shall look at the matter again to see whether there is anything new that we have yet to consider.
British Food Exports
7. Mr. Elletson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to increase exports of British food. [11271]
The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Tony Baldry): The value of UK food and drink exports is currently almost £10 billion a year. We continue, through Food From Britain, to provide active support for British food and drink exporters.
Mr. Elletson: Is my hon. Friend aware of the help provided by Food From Britain to more than 1,000 British companies, including several from Blackpool and Fylde?
Marketing grants and other forms of assistance have helped several local firms, including Premier Biscuits, Fair Game and the Packaged Ice Company, to increase exports and break into new export markets. Does he agree that Food From Britain is doing an excellent job and will he join me in congratulating it?
Mr. Baldry: Food From Britain is doing an excellent job, and all over the country large numbers of successful businesses are exporting foodstuffs from the UK. Indeed, food exports have increased by 10 per cent. since last year. We are exporting pizzas to Italy, mineral water to France, and I strongly suspect that, somewhere in the UK, someone is exporting ice cream to the Eskimos.
Mr. Austin Mitchell: One of the better foods that we export is fish; the delicious and nutritious brainfood that we should all eat more of, especially those sitting on the Government Front Bench. The British fishing industry would like to export more fish, but at the moment it is importing too much of our fish, caught in our waters by foreign vessels. Therefore, is it not disgraceful that the Minister has not made a statement on how well he fulfilled the mandate imposed on him by the House of Commons by the Government defeat in November to get a better deal for British fishermen at the Fisheries Council?
Mr. Baldry: I would have been delighted to have had the opportunity to proclaim my success at the Fisheries Council. We struck a very good deal, balancing the interests of the UK fishing industry with the needs of best science. We must ensure that our industry has the maximum catch this year, at the same time as ensuring that there are sustainable levels of fish in the sea for years to come.
Mr. Tyler: I acknowledge that the livestock sector is not doing anything like as well as other sectors, as the farm incomes survey showed last night. What plans does the Minister have to promote the export of meat and dairy products, especially to other countries of the European Union? Did he note, for example, that at the recent international green week festival in Berlin, the Irish were there in force, led by their Minister, yet there was no representative from the Government, the Meat and Livestock Commission or Food From Britain?
Mr. Baldry: UK Ministers and Food From Britain are at practically every significant food fair in Europe. Bearing in mind how few Liberal Democrats are present, it is very difficult to take anything they say seriously. Indeed, in their own document on agriculture, they freely acknowledge that
- "Lib-Dems say everything to everybody to satisfy the pro-animal and pro-farming lobbies."
8. Mr. Fabricant: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he next plans to meet his counterparts in the EU to discuss the export of British beef; and if he will make a statement. [11272]
Mr. Baldry: Beef exports have been discussed at three of the last four meetings of the Council of Agriculture Ministers. British beef exports are a real success story. Last year British beef exports were worth an impressive £526 million.
Mr. Fabricant: Following my hon. Friend's robust efforts to protect British fishermen in the Irish box,
Staffordshire farmers now want him to push still further the export of British beef and not allow bovine spongiform encephalopathy to be used as an excuse by our French and German cousins for not importing it. Will he convey to our French and German brethren that British beef is, of course, far nicer than knackered horse?
Mr. Baldry: I am glad to say that the Meat and Livestock Commission estimates that UK beef exports in December were significantly higher than they were at the same time in the previous year. Clearly, although unfair and alarmist reports about BSE do not help, our continuing impressive beef export performance is testimony to the quality and competitiveness of British beef. We have made it clear to the Commission that we expect it to ensure that Germany complies with European Community law.
Mr. Madden: Will the Minister confirm that animal welfare groups do excellent work in monitoring meat exports? Will he therefore repudiate the remarks made a few moments ago by the hon. Member for Blackpool, South (Mr. Hawkins), who has now fled the Chamber, accusing my hon. Friend the Member for Glanford and Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) of pocketing £15,000 a year from an animal welfare group? Will the Minister acknowledge that that money goes not to my hon. Friend but to support research carried out in his private office, and that the same organisation funds Conservative Members in precisely the same way?
Mr. Baldry: I am sure that the Register of Members' Interests speaks for itself.
Rev. Ian Paisley: Will the Minister assure me that, when he makes representations about beef exports to the European Union, he will keep in mind the valuable contribution made by Northern Ireland to those exports? Will he be fully briefed by Baroness Denton, the Northern Ireland Office Minister responsible for agriculture, about the difficulties that Northern Ireland exporters now face in exporting beef to the European Union?
Mr. Baldry: We all have good cause to be proud of the quality of agriculture in Northern Ireland; it makes a significant contribution to United Kingdom agriculture overall. I have no doubt that if Baroness Denton feels that there are concerns, she will raise them with us, and we shall act upon them.
Mr. Mackinlay: Will the Minister tell us why neither he nor any other Minister attended the Berlin green fair, where the promotion of food exports was discussed? If the Irish Minister was there, why was the British Minister not there?
Mr. Baldry: As I have already explained, United Kingdom Ministers attend many trade exhibitions to promote UK food. The fact that UK food exports have increased by 10 per cent. in one year is a testimony to that.
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