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Beef Exports (EC Ban)

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the treaty basis on which the European Commission purports to exercise the power to impose a world-wide ban on the export of British beef. [23455]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 29 March 1996]: The ban has been imposed on the basis of EC directives 90/425/EEC--in particular, article 10(4)--and 89/662/EEC--in particular, article 9--governing intra-community veterinary checks. These directives are based on article 43 of the treaty of Rome.

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the total number of cases of BSE reported in the United Kingdom in each county or equivalent local authority area. [24416]

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Mrs. Browning: Attached are tables showing the total number of confirmed BSE cases in the United Kingdom by county since November 1986, as at 12 April 1996.

BSE county summary (Great Britain); week ending Friday 12 April 1996 Total number of cases confirmed since November 1986

Region	County	Cases
Northern	Cleveland	221
	Cumbria	5,029
	Durham	785
	Humberside	875
	Northumberland	1,088
	Tyne and Wear	52
	Yorkshire north	6,914
	Yorkshire south	681
	Yorkshire west	999
Total		16,644
Midlands and Western	Cheshire	6,456
	Derbyshire	3,807
	Hereford and Worcester	2,678
	Lancashire	5,295
	Leicestershire	3,175
	Manchester	194
	Merseyside	125
	Nottinghamshire	965
	Shropshire	3,960
	Staffordshire	4,094
	West Midlands	123
	Warwickshire	1,549
Total		32,421
Eastern	Bedfordshire	453
	Cambridgeshire	504
	Essex	873
	Hertfordshire	686
	Lincolnshire	1,176
	Norfolk	3,984
	Northamptonshire	1,327
	Suffolk	1,982
Total		10,985
South west	Avon	2,975
	Cornwall	9,898
	Devon	13,966
	Dorset	9,407
	Gloucestershire	3,246
	Scilly Isles	1
	Somerset	12,407
	Wiltshire	7,019
Total		58,919
South east	Berkshire	828
	Buckinghamshire	1,388
	Hampshire	3,880
	Isle of Wight	795
	Kent	2,137
	London	139
	Oxfordshire	2,226
	Surrey	1,245
	Sussex east	1,882
	Sussex west	3,229
Total		17,749
Wales	Clwyd	2,472
	Dyfed	7,735
	Glamorgan mid	250
	Glamorgan south	426
	Glamorgan west	117
	Gwent	1,104
	Gwynedd	686
	Powys	2,292
Total		15,082
Scotland-south	Borders	504
	Central	222
	Dumfries	2,262
	Lothian	212
	Strathclyde	1,816
Scotland-north	Fife	334
	Grampian	1,323
	Highland	328
	Orkney	96
	Shetland	10
	Tayside	565
	Western Isles	1
Scottish total		7,673
Overall total for Great Britain		159,473

Cases confirmed in a particular month will have a date of clinical onset of disease and date of report prior to that month. In addition, in counties where incidence is low, the number of confirmed cases may show a reduction when purchased cases are reallocated to other premises in a different county.

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Northern Ireland county summary: week ending 12 April 1996 Total number of cases confirmed since 29 November 1988

County	Cases
Antrim	466
Armagh	120
Down	305
Fermanagh	151
Londonderry	308
Tyrone	348

Animal Imports (Rabies)

Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the quarantine kennels licensed by MAFF to accept animals imported into the United Kingdom. [26739]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 25 April 1996]: At present, there are 80 quarantine kennels authorised to operate in the UK. These are listed in the information pack issued to those who intend to import rabies-susceptible animals into this country. I have placed a copy in the Library of the House.

Sir Cranley Onslow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) dogs, (b) cats and (c) other rabies-susceptible animals were imported into the United Kingdom under licence in 1995. [26882]

Mrs. Browning: Information on the number of animals actually imported during the whole of 1995 is not available. It is possible to provide information only on the number of animals for which licences have been issued

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permitting their import during this period. For 1995, the figures for licensed animals were: 5,394 dogs, 4,126 cats and 81,054 other rabies-susceptible mammals.

Maize-derived Glucose

Mr. Wilson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the effect of reforms in the common agricultural policy on (a) EU self-sufficiency in maize and (b) the market price of maize-derived glucose. [27110]

Mr. Baldry: When account is taken of year-on-year variations in area, yield and consumption, the effect of reform of the common agricultural policy on EU self-sufficiency in maize, which remains around 100 per cent. has been largely neutral.

The Department does not have independent price data on glucose and at present there is no simple and reliable way of distinguishing between glucose made from maize and glucose made from other raw materials such as wheat.

Mr. Wilson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to alleviate the impact of increases in the price of maize-derived glucose produced in European Union countries on the British pharmaceutical industry; and if he will make a statement. [27111]

Mr. Baldry: With maize, as with other cereals, the Government's aim remains the progressive reduction of institutional price support, thereby removing one of the main factors leading to distortion between EU and world market prices for this raw material. In the short term, however, the Government are continuing to do all they can to ensure that the EU Commission operates the mechanisms designed to compensate EU starch and glucose users for the higher cost of their raw materials by comparison with those of their third country competitors in a fair and equitable manner.

Cattle (Slaughter in Abattoirs)

Dr Strang: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if those cattle aged over 30 months which are now ineligible for human consumption will be slaughtered in abattoirs which also kill livestock for human consumption; and if he will make a statement on the detailed arrangements for the implementation of the 30-month rule, describing the responsibilities of farmers, livestock markets, slaughterhouses, rendering plans and other parties. [27234]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 29 April 1996]: Cattle aged over 30 months may be slaughtered in abattoirs which also kill livestock for human consumption. The rules governing the 30-month scheme require that no cattle destined for human consumption may be present when animals are being slaughtered under the scheme. In addition, if any scheme animals need to be held in lairage, they must be kept separate from animals destined for human consumption and products from scheme animals must be stored separately from meat or other products for human or animal consumption. In

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practice, this means that abattoirs participating in the scheme must agree to designate whole days (at least one) to the slaughter of animals under the scheme.

The detailed arrangements for the scheme are still being finalised.

Turkey Farming

Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has received about turkey farming. [27452]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 30 April 1996]: Some of the numerous representations we receive on farm animal welfare have related to the welfare of intensively farmed turkeys.

Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will commission an inquiry into the welfare of intensively farmed turkeys. [27453]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 30 April 1996]: The Farm Animal Welfare Council has recently conducted a review of the welfare of all farmed turkeys. Its report was published in 1995 and the Government response is currently in preparation.

Slaughterhouse Waste

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what study has been made of the safety of disposing of fifth quarter material from abattoirs on to land in use for agriculture; and if he will make a statement. [25713]

Mrs. Browning: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Mrs. Jackson) on 16 April, Official Report, column 466.

Mrs. Helen Jackson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 16 April, Official Report, column 466, on research to provide guidelines on the landspreading of industrial wastes, (a) who has been commissioned to carry out the research and (b) when the results of the research will be published. [27455]

Mrs. Browning: The Ministry, together with the Department of the Environment and the Environment Agency, has commissioned the Water Research Centre and ADAS--an executive agency of MAFF--to conduct the aforementioned research on the landspreading of industrial wastes. Findings from the research are expected later this year and will be used as the basis for drafting guidance to regulators, waste operators, farmers and the public. The draft guidance will be subject to public consultation.

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