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Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 27 March, Official Report, column 640, how much his Department estimated it would have cost to provide the information requested. [31455]

Mr. Boswell: More than £450, the current threshold above which answers are deemed to incur disproportionate cost.

European Union Flag

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what instructions were issued to his Department's offices and agencies in respect of flying the European Union flag on 8 May; and if he will make a statement. [31497]

Mr. Boswell: None.

Beef Imports

Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish a breakdown by country of imports of beef under heading 011 in (a) April 1995 and (b) April 1996. [31766]

Mrs. Browning: The latest month for which detailed official trade statistics are available is January 1996. The table shows imports of beef, under heading 011, for January 1995, April 1995 and January 1996, by country:

10 Jun 1996 : Column: 7

	January 1995 (1)		April 1995 (1)		January 1996 (1)
Country	Value (£000)	Tonnes	Value (£000)	Tonnes	Value (£000)	Tonnes
Belgium-Luxembourg	237	68	376	117	368	134
Denmark	242	117	65	33	165	83
Finland	--	--	60	40	0	0
France	2,191	1,332	2,089	950	1,433	803
Germany	239	169	167	72	132	70
Irish Republic	8,779	3,786	8,814	3,094	7,223	2,107
Italy	--	--	26	10	52	20
Netherlands	1,805	575	1,376	407	1,130	335
Spain	386	135	96	34	32	17
Sweden	--	--	--	--	2	1
Argentina	790	161	1,891	566	1,362	463
Australia	1,690	479	1,395	409	2,151	808
Botswana	--	--	514	160	2,073	798
Brazil	141	34	1,479	400	598	169
Namibia	422	134	912	299	623	212
New Zealand	--	--	533	281	361	160
Paraguay	--	--	59	26	--	--
Swaziland	--	--	31	23	219	82
U.S.A.	168	70	277	116	520	256
Uruguay	1,897	591	2,241	886	1,632	587
Zimbabwe	1,102	255	2,793	878	2,199	253
Total	20,089	7,906	25,192	8,801	22,274	7,358

(1) Provisional

10 Jun 1996 : Column: 9

Slaughtered Cattle

Mr. Ron Davies: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the exemptions he makes from his general policy of requiring the destruction of carcases of cattle over the age of 30 months; and what controls he has introduced to monitor such disposals. [31579]

Mr. Boswell: No such exemptions are made as the EC regulation (716/96) governing the over 30 months scheme requires destruction of the carcases.

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to investigate allegations of abuse of the cattle disposal scheme with special reference to giving preference to dealers or farmers for improper reasons; and if he will make a statement. [31627]

Mr. Baldry: We have made it clear that abuses of the scheme will not be tolerated. Collection centres found to be breaching scheme rules will be removed from the scheme. No allegation of abuse of the kind referred to by the hon. Member has been substantiated. Anyone with a complaint about infringement of the rules has been invited to make it either to the Intervention Board or to the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Live Animal Exports

Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he collates in respect of the 8,855 animals which were rejected as unfit to travel prior to export from the United Kingdom in 1995; and if he will make a statement. [32102]

Mrs. Browning: There is a considerable variety of circumstances in which animals may be rejected as unfit for an export journey. Central records are kept only of the numbers rejected.

Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 13 May, Official Report, column 380, what were the ages of the 1,313 bovines and the 668 bovines exported from Great Britain to the Irish Republic in 1994 and 1995 and the 18,340 and 25,044 bovines exported from Great Britain in Northern Ireland in 1994 and 1995. [31785]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 7 June 1996]: The number of bovines exported to the Irish Republic were as recorded in the overseas trade statistics. These provide statistics on the exports from the United Kingdom as a whole and not just Great Britain.

The ages of bovines exported is not recorded within the overseas trade statistics, nor within the Animo system. However, so far as exports to the Republic of Ireland are concerned, Community rules in force since 1990 have prohibited the export from the UK to any member state of bovine animals over six months old.

Avoparcin

Mr. Viggers: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's policy on the use of avoparcin

10 Jun 1996 : Column: 10

with particular reference to his assessment of the available data for the European Commission's Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition. [31947]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 7 June 1996]: Avoparcin is authorised for use throughout the Community as an additive in animal feeds under directive 70/524/EEC. No feed additive is permitted unless it satisfies the criteria set out in the directive, including a requirement that, at the level permitted in feeding stuffs, it does not adversely affect human or animal health or the environment.

In July 1995, as a result of concerns expressed by Denmark, the Council of Ministers decided not to support the continued authorisation of avoparcin for use in feed for dairy cows. The Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition has recently considered data presented by the Danish authorities and their report is expected to be made available to member states shortly.

The Government will continue to argue that any future decisions on the authorisation of avoparcin must be taken on the basis of good scientific evidence.

Food Labelling

Mr. Key: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the interested parties who were consulted in drawing up the guidelines which will accompany the consolidated food labelling regulations which will come into force on 1 July. [31572]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 7 June 1996]: Six hundred and sixty-four interested parties representing manufacturers, retailers, consumers, individuals and enforcement authorities have been consulted on the draft guidance notes. Seventy-one detailed responses were received and have been taken into account in preparing the final version.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Mr. Dover: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice and recommendations she has received from the British Veterinary Association regarding the steps needed to eradicate BSE from British herds. [31040]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 4 June 1996]: Ministers and officials regularly meet with representatives of the British Veterinary Association to discuss, amongst other things, BSE. Their advice and recommendations concerning proposals for the eradication of BSE are carefully considered and, where appropriate, reflected in the control measures.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

European Union Flag

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what instructions were issued to his Department's offices and agencies in respect of flying the European Union flag on 8 May; and if he will make a statement. [31500]

10 Jun 1996 : Column: 11

Mr. Willetts: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 6 June 1996, Official Report, column 518.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Parliamentary Questions

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 26 March, Official Report, column 495 (1) how much his Department estimated it would have cost to provide the information requested; [31461]

(2) pursuant to his answer of 25 March, Official Report, column 405, how much his Department estimated it would have cost to provide the information requested. [31465]

Mr. Howard: More than £450, the current threshold above which answers are deemed to incur disproportionate cost.

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