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Organophosphate Poisoning
Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps are being taken by his Department to educate doctors about organophosphate poisoning; and if he will make a statement. [23178]
Mrs. Browning: I refer to the reply given by the Under-Secretary of State for Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington (Mr. Horam) on 1 April, Official Report, column 47.
EDS Ltd.
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what out-sourcing contracts his agencies have with the EDS software computer system; what is the current cost; when the contract ends; what are the penalties involved should he seek early termination of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [23738]
Mr. Boswell: Centrally held records show that neither the Ministry nor any of its agencies hold out-sourcing contracts with EDS. Consequently, there are no current costs; contract end dates; or potential penalty fees. Fees for early discharge of contractual arrangements are a matter for negotiation between the Ministry and its suppliers.
Irradiated Food
Ms Estelle Morris: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the incidence of irradiated food products being supplied in the United Kingdom in the (a) retail, (b) wholesale and (c) import sector without complying with food labelling legislation. [24197]
Mrs. Browning: Local authorities are responsible for enforcing food labelling legislation. However, as validated tests are now available for a number of irradiated foods we intend to initiate a surveillance programme on this in the near future.
Ms Morris: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will notify enforcement authorities of those companies submitting food products for irradiation treatment. [24198]
Mrs. Browning: As required under the Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1991, details of any licence issued to irradiate food are published in the London and Edinburgh Gazettes and announced in a press release.
Currently only one company, Isotron plc of Swindon, is licensed to irradiate herbs and spices.
3 Apr 1996 : Column: 341
Mr. Foulkes:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 12 March, Official Report, columns 510-11, if radioactive waste was dumped by British ships in the English channel after 1966. [24221]
Mr. Baldry:
Radioactive waste was last dumped in the English channel, at the Hurd deep dump site, in 1963. Details of UK sea-disposal operations are given in the 1984 "Report of the Independent Review of Disposal of Radioactive Waste in the North East Atlantic", a copy of which is in the Library.
Mr. Marlow:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will set out the margin per acre achieved by growers of wheat and barley for each of the last 15 years in (a) constant and (b) current prices, setting out the definition used by his Department of margin or margins where more than one classification is appropriate. [24279]
Mr. Baldry:
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 18 March 1996, Official Report, column 27. The 1994-95 edition of "Farm Incomes in the United Kingdom", referred to in that earlier answer, has now been published. A description of the composition of and uses for gross margins is contained in chapter 3 of "Farm Incomes in the UK 1992-93". Copies of these publications are available in the Library of the House.
Mr. David Atkinson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the problem of non-recognition by computers of the year 2000 with regard to his Department's computers and those for which it is responsible. [24396]
Mr. Boswell:
In January this year the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's information technology directorate initiated a project with the aim of ensuring that, by the end of 1998, all existing and planned computer systems for which the Ministry is responsible will be in a position effectively to manage the century date change on 1 January 2000.
Mr. Morley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to the answer of 21 February, Official Report, column 180, if any further night shooting licences have been issued; how many deer have been shot on the new licences and by which licence; and if he will make a statement. [24496]
Mrs. Browning:
Following my reply of 21 February, no further notices to shoot deer at night have been issued by MAFF.
Mr. Morley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the cost to the Forestry Commission of supervising deer and fox hunts in the New forest by (a) keeps and (b) administrative costs. [24497]
3 Apr 1996 : Column: 342
Mr. Boswell:
The Forestry Commission spends some £11,000 per annum on supervising deer and fox hunts in the New forest. This includes keepers' wages, the costs of vehicles, and other administration charges.
Mr. Gill:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what is the amount of money expended in the United Kingdom from the EU disease eradication fund; [23336]
(3) which projects are currently being funded by the EU disease eradication scheme. [23335]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 28 March 1996]: Northern Ireland has been approved funding in 1996 of 50 per cent. of the laboratory costs associated with the testing of samples taken under the Aujeszky's disease eradication scheme, up to a maximum of 100,000 ecus--approximately £84,000.
Information on projects currently funded in other member states is not available except at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Gill:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the United Kingdom contribution to the EU disease eradication fund since its inception. [23334]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 28 March 1996]: The United Kingdom contributes to the European Community budget as a whole. Details can be found in the annual White Paper statements on the EC budget. For 1996, the United Kingdom is forecast to contribute 15 per cent. to the EU budget before the Fontainebleau abatement is taken into account and 11 per cent. after abatement.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which of the 1,000 regulations identified for repeal or amendment by the Prime Minister are the responsibility of his Department; of those which (a) have been repealed or amended and (b) are planned to have been repealed or amended by the end of the 1995-96 parliamentary session; and if he will list those whose repeal has saved business more than £1 million per annum. [23648]
Mr. Boswell
[holding answer 2 April 1996]: I refer to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on 2 April, Official Report, column 85.
Mr. McLeish:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest assessment of the hygiene standards in red meat slaughterhouses in England and Wales. [24446]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 2 April 1996]: I have asked the chief executive of the Meat Hygiene Service to reply to the hon. Member direct.
3 Apr 1996 : Column: 343
Letter from J. McNeill to Mr. Henry McLeish, dated 3 April 1996:
(2) which farmers in the United Kingdom have benefited from the EU disease eradication fund; [23337]
As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), your questions regarding hygiene standards in red meat slaughterhouses in England, Scotland and Wales have been passed to me for reply.[24446]
Since early 1994 the Hygiene Assessment System (HAS) has been operating in red meat slaughterhouses. HAS is the method developed by the State Veterinary Service to assess and monitor hygiene standards in slaughterhouses. HAS looks at the specific aspects of performance within five main categories--ante-mortem, slaughter and dressing, personnel and practices, maintenance and hygiene of premises and general conditions and management.
As you may know, the MHS took over responsibility for inspection in licensed fresh meat premises in England, Scotland and Wales on 1 April 1995. This work was previously undertaken by local authorities. One of the targets set by Ministers for the MHS in 1995/96 was to establish a benchmark of HAS scores in licensed slaughterhouses. Information on the benchmark scores will be published in the MHS annual report, due to be published later this year. Copies of that report will be placed in the Library of the House.
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