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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Calf Brains
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if calf brains are permitted to be used in food produced for human consumption; and if he will make a statement. [32270]
Mrs. Browning: Under the Specified Bovine Material (Number 2) Order 1996, brains from calves over six months of age must be destroyed and so cannot enter the food chain. The brains of calves under six months of age can be sold for human consumption. However, the Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984, as amended, do not permit brains from calves under six months to be used except in meat products cooked during manufacture.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in what manner the meat, bonemeal and other derivatives of cattle culled due to BSE infection is disposed of; and if he will make a statement. [32406]
Mrs. Browning: All BSE suspects are slaughtered on farm and the entire carcase is disposed of by incineration.
Fisheries
Mr. Spearing: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the treaty articles of regulations or directives of the European Community which would govern the operation of a fisheries enterprise whose ultimate ownership was in Austria or Luxembourg under the registration and flag of another member state within European Community waters. [37083]
Mr. Baldry: Any fishing vessel registered in the United Kingdom would have to comply with the requirements of our merchant shipping legislation, which conforms with the general provisions of the treaty of the European Community. That legislation, which is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Transport, requires, among other things, that a fishing vessel shall not be registered unless it is managed, and its operations controlled and directed from within the United Kingdom. I cannot comment on the legislation that operates in other member states.
16 Jul 1996 : Column: 513
Set-aside Land
Mr. Spearing: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals or representations he has received from interested environmental organisations within the United Kingdom concerning modifications to the existing set-aside arrangements of the European Community which have the object of conserving beneficial wildlife at minimal or no additional cost to the scheme; and what actions he or other Government representatives have taken consequent to their receipt. [37344]
Mr. Baldry: Following consultations with farming and conservation organisations earlier this year, changes to the set-aside rules were announced in April aimed at benefiting wildlife, particularly ground-nesting birds. The principle changes announced were:
- (i) a relaxation in the areas of set-aside which may be left uncut; and
(ii) from 1997, a ban on cutting set-aside between 15 April and 1 July when a non-selective herbicide has been used, and a ban on cultivating set-aside land before 1 July.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what communications he has had with the Agriculture Commissioner concerning the allegations by Gilbert Castille in respect of the publication of results of scientific research into BSE. [37736]
Mrs. Browning: The Commission has made its views on this subject perfectly clear in the press and I see no reason to raise this matter with it. It is an internal matter for the Commission.
The policy of the British Government has been to be open in publishing research results in relation to BSE and our track record clearly shows that that is precisely what we have done.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what resources are being devoted by his Department to bio-assay-based research into pre-clinical diagnosis of BSE in cattle. [32325]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 17 June 1996]: In transmissible spongiform encephalopathy research, bioassays are used to detect infectivity and can therefore be used as a diagnostic test in their own right. They are being used to diagnose pre-clinical infection in experiments where animals have been experimentally challenged with BSE and are probably incubating the disease. Also MAFF has approved a project to develop a transgenic mouse carrying the cattle prior-protein gene which may eventually result in a bio-assay that is more sensitive and faster than existing bio-assays. Such mice may eventually play a role in the development of a pre-clinical bioassay. The support allocated to all these research projects in 1996-97 is £0.7 million.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his oral answer, Official Report, 9 May 1996 column 361, if he will place in the
16 Jul 1996 : Column: 514
Library a copy of the evidence which suggest that the purification practice operated by a fishery in Weymouth poses an unacceptable risk to human health. [37545]
Mr. Baldry:
The reasons for the statement in Official Report, column 361 have been outlined in correspondence with the hon. Member, dated 16 and 21 May and 4 July, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Steen:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food during which periods since 1966 extended water re-use systems have been accepted practice for the farming of oysters. [37466]
Mr. Baldry:
The farming of oysters does not involve the re-use of seawater. The re-use of seawater for shellfish purification for periods extending up to one month has been accepted practice in some UK plants for a number years.
Mr. Morley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the value of the tuna landed by the Cornish driftnet boats in 1995; to which countries this tuna was exported; and what was the cost of surveillance of the albacore tuna driftnet fishery (a) in port and (b) at sea, by United Kingdom and EU authorities. [37747]
Mr. Baldry:
In 1995, UK vessels landed a total of 196 tonnes of albacore tuna with a first sale value of £335,000. Most of the catch was either landed in, or exported to, France.
The cost to the United Kingdom of surveillance of the 1995 albacore tuna driftnet fishery at sea was approximately £0.6 million. The limited costs incurred in port have not been separately identified. Details of surveillance expenditure by the Commission and other member states are not available.
Mr. Morley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what measures his Department is taking to prevent the (a) dolphin and (b) other wildlife mortalities recorded in 1995 in Cornish driftnets in the albacore tuna fishery; [37749]
Mr. Baldry:
Measures are again being taken both in port and at sea to ensure that the drift nets used by UK vessels in the albacore tuna fishery do not exceed the maximum legal length of 2.5 km. The Government have, in addition, encouraged the industry to leave gaps between net panels because skippers have said that these act as "dolphin doors" thereby reducing the dolphin by-catch. We have proposed to the European Commission that the rules be amended so as further to encourage the use of "dolphin doors".
The Government are funding research into the use of acoustic devices in nets to act as deterrents to marine mammals. They have also made funds available to the sea mammal research unit in the event of it being able to reach agreement with the skippers concerned to conduct further observation work on the wildlife bycatch in the UK albacore tuna drifnet fishery.
16 Jul 1996 : Column: 515
Dr. Strang:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will set out the evidence evaluated by this Department underlying his assessment that no risk to human health will be posed by the slaughter of cattle over the age of 30 months in abattoirs which also slaughter cattle for human consumption; and if he will set out the extra precautionary measures which will be put in place. [28326]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 7 May 1996]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the statements issued by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee following meetings on 20 and 24 March. These statements included recommendations on the need for deboning of cattle over 30 months in licensed plants supervised by the meat Hygiene Service, and that the trimmings must be classified as specified bovine offal. There was no suggestion that deboned meat from these animals would pose any additional risk to the public. Indeed, the committee concluded that if these measures were carried out, the risk from the eating beef would be likely to be extremely small.
The Government took immediate action to implement the recommendations made by SEAC on the reclassification of SBO--through the introduction of the Specified Bovine Material Order 1996, which came into effect on 29 March. SEAC's advice for the establishment of specialist deboning plants for meat from animals over 30 months of age were not carried through; instead, in order to restore consumer confidence, the Government went further than the committee's recommendation and prohibited meat from animals over 30 months old from entering the human and animal feed chain.
16 Jul 1996 : Column: 516
The market support measures introduced by the Community under Commission Regulation 716/96 in respect of these animals required complete destruction of animals brought to market over 30 months and imposed detailed rules on the handling and processing of the resulting animal products.
This regulation imposed far more stringent conditions for the disposal of 30-month cattle than was ever envisaged by SEAC. Nevertheless, the Intervention Board executive agency, which is responsible for the running of the scheme, has taken scrupulous care in ensuring that the scheme rules comply in eveyr respect to the requirements of the regulation.
(2) if his Department is funding observation of the wildlife bycatch in the United Kingdom albacore tuna driftnet fishery in 1996. [37748]