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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Animal Incinerators
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much is paid to the operator of an animal incinerator (a) for every bovine spongiform encephalopathy carcase disposed of and (b) per tonne for specified bovine offal incinerated. [36853]
Mrs. Browning: The information requested cannot be supplied for reasons of commercial confidentiality.
Sheep Dips
Mr. Ieuan Wyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the dates
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of commencement and the estimated dates of conclusion and publication of the consultation exercises on (a) sheep dipping and (b) sheep scab control; if he proposes to issue interim reports; and if he will make a statement. [37801]
Mrs. Browning: The consultation exercise on organophosphorus sheep dips formed part of a review of the certificate of competence scheme in the safe use of OP sheep dips by the Veterinary Products Committee which was announced in December 1995. A letter to interested parties was sent out from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate for response by 30 January 1996. The responses were all considered by the VPC in the course of its review. Ministers forming the Licensing Authority expect to receive advice shortly, and an announcement will then be made as soon as possible. Copies of the responses to the consultation letter were placed in the Library of the House.
The consultation document on sheep scab controls was issued on 21 December 1995; comments were sought by 1 March 1996. As part of the consultation process, officials have held meetings with local authority representatives and organisations representing the sheep industry and ancillary trades. Responses to the consultation letter were made available to the public in the main MAFF library on 15 May 1996. I plan a further round of consultation on revised proposals, taking account of the comments received, in the autumn.
Nitrate
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what considerations led him to draw a distinction between nitrate vulnerable zones and nitrate sensitive areas and to compensate farmers and landowners only in the case of the latter. [38330]
Mr. Boswell: Nitrate vulnerable zones have been introduced under Council directive 91/676/EEC. This requires the designation, as vulnerable zones, of land which drains into waters which are, or are expected to be, polluted by nitrate from agriculture. Mandatory measures to reduce and prevent further such pollution will be introduced before the end of 1999. As these measures will be based on good agricultural practice, the question of compensation does not arise.
In contrast, the present nitrate sensitive areas scheme was introduced in 1994 under the terms of Council regulation 2078/92/EEC, the Agri-Environment Regulation. The scheme is designed to provide a quicker and more efficient way of stabilising and reducing rising nitrate levels in key groundwater sources, thereby helping to ensure their future viability. Under the scheme, farmers undertake voluntarily to make substantial changes to their farming practices, going significantly beyond good agricultural practice, in return for compensation. All 32 NSAs are located within designated nitrate vulnerable zones.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has evaluated relating to transgenic mice in relation to (a) human prions and (b) bovine prions. [36934]
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Mrs. Browning: The Department and its expert Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, has considered numerous papers on this subject in recent years. There are several groups now specialising in this area, most notably those led by Professor Prusiner in the United States, Professor Weissman in Switzerland, Professor Collinge in London, and at the BBSRC Institute for Animal Health at Edinburgh and Compton. Professor Collinge also briefed SEAC personally before he became a member of the committee. His most recent paper specifically on the subject was published in Nature on 21 December 1995. The Department will be funding development of transgenic models in the current financial year for the study of BSE.
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has evaluated relating to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy transmission to macaques. [36933]
Mrs. Browning: The Department and its independent advisory committee, SEAC have considered the paper published in Nature on 27 June 1996 by Dr. Lasmezas and co-workers in France and Dr. Ironside of the CJD surveillance unit, United Kingdom.
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to promote European co-operation on (a) core data definition and acquisition and (b) the quarterly publication of surveillance data on BSE. [36937]
Mrs. Browning: All member states have been circulated with descriptions of the clinical disease as seen in the United Kingdom, including a video presentation of a series of cases. Furthermore, criteria for diagnosis of BSE post mortem have also been agreed internationally, within the EC and world-wide, and published in a scientific and technical review of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), 1992, Vol 11, No 2. Eds Bradley and Matthews. Indeed, the Central Veterinary Laboratory is the OIE reference laboratory for the diagnosis of BSE.
With respect to acquisition of data, some member states participate in a surveillance programme for rabies in which all cattle that prove to be rabies negative are subsequently examined for the presence of BSE. No cases have been diagnosed by this means.
BSE is a notifiable disease in all member states. Cases must be reported to the Commission and member states weekly in accordance with Council directive 82/894 as amended by Commission decision 90/134.
Mr. Duncan Smith:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what scientific research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated to ascertain whether the treatment of cattle with organophosphates has affected the incidence of BSE; and when the use of this treatment was discontinued. [38260]
Mrs. Browning
[holding answer 22 July 1996]: Epidemiological studies at the beginning of the BSE outbreak showed no correlation between the use of agrochemicals and outbreaks of disease but a correlation with concentrated animal feed. The independent advisory committee, SEAC, considered a number of alternative hypothesis of the cause of BSE in its report published in 1994, which is in the Library of the House, including the role of organophosphorus compounds, but decided that
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none of the hypotheses was sufficiently strong to justify extending the current research programme to cover them. Epidemiological studies continue to show the absence of a link between OP compounds and BSE, not only in the UK but in Switzerland where there have been over 200 cases of BSE but Phosmet is licensed for the treatment of warble fly in cattle.
OP compounds continue to be licensed for the treatment of cattle in Great Britain.
Mrs. Ewing:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the extent to which the United Kingdom will meet its commitments under MAGP III; what assessment he has made of the implementation of MAGP III in other EU nations; and if he will make a statement. [39164]
Mr. Baldry:
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Waveney (Mr. Porter) on 20 June, Official Report columns 626-28. The Commission will shortly issue its 1995 annual report on implementation by the member states. I submitted an unnumbered explanatory memorandum on this document on 9 July. The report will be deposited in the House Library in the usual way.
Sir Jim Spicer:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will instigate an independent scientific review on tuberculosis in cattle and badgers; and if he will make a statement. [39666]
Mr. Douglas Hogg:
I am pleased to tell my hon. Friend and the House that, following consultations with interested parties, the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales and I have decided to set up an independent scientific review into the policy on TB and badgers. Professor John Krebs, who is chief executive of the Natural Environment Research Council has kindly agreed to chair the review, which is expected to report in the early summer next year. The membership of the review team will be announced later, together with the date when the review will commence. The current control policy for bovine tuberculosis will continue for the duration of the review.
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