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Casualty Animals
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what incentives exist to ensure that sick casualty animals are given the same treatment at slaughter as healthy animals. [39955]
Mrs. Browning: I assume the hon. Member is referring to the humane treatment of animals at slaughter. There are extensive provisions in the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 to ensure welfare at slaughter of all farmed animals, whether or not for human consumption, and regardless of whether they are sick or injured. It is an offence under these regulations to cause any animal any avoidable excitement, pain or suffering.
It is also an offence under the legislation on the welfare of animals during transport to transport any animal if this is likely to cause it unnecessary suffering. Where an animal is unfit to travel it should be slaughtered on farm. Such slaughter is governed by provisions in the 1995 regulations.
Cattle Slaughter Scheme
Dr. Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what checks are in place to ensure that the slaughter of all animals in the bovine spongiform encephalopathy cull is in accordance with regulations under the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968 and the Welfare of Livestock Regulations 1994. [39953]
Mrs. Browning: The welfare at slaughter of all animals, including those in the over thirty month slaughter scheme, is subject to the requirements of the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995. These are enforced in all abattoirs by the Meat Hygiene Service.
Dr. Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures he has taken to ensure that animals due for culling are adequately fed. [39956]
Mrs. Browning: The responsibility for ensuring that animals are properly cared for, fed and watered rests with farmers. Advice has been made available on planning feed requirements in the light of current conditions. The State Veterinary Service and ADAS have been instructed to be particularly vigilant for welfare problems and to take action where appropriate. We have also made compliance with welfare requirements, including those that apply during transport, a clear condition of the over thirty month scheme.
Dr. Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what (a) logistical and (b) economic reasons prevent cattle from being culled on farm; and if he will make a statement. [39954]
Mrs. Browning: EC Regulation 716/96 governing the over thirty month scheme requires that the cattle be slaughtered in specially designated slaughterhouses, except where animal welfare considerations necessitate the on-farm slaughter of an animal. This requirement
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enables appropriate veterinary and administrative controls to be applied in order to prevent any part of the animals from entering the food chain and to protect Community and UK Exchequer funding of the scheme.
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what estimate he has made of the percentage of cattle slaughtered under the selective cull scheme which could be incubating bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and if he will make a statement; [40260]
- (2) if he will press for extension of the selective slaughter policy in the event that a positive link between new cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and imported cattle is established; and if he will make a statement; [40125]
(3) what assessment he has made of whether cattle slaughtered under the selective cull scheme could be incubating BSE; and if he will make a statement; [40258]
(4) what assessment he has made of the effect of the implication of the accelerated slaughter scheme on the number of cases of active BSE; and if he will make a statement; [40261]
(5) what is his estimate of the reduction in the number of cases of active bovine spongiform encephalopathy which would be removed from the statistics by the implementation of the accelerated slaughter scheme; and if he will make a statement. [40257]
Mrs. Browning: For the present, the Government are not proceeding with the selective cull of cattle in relation to BSE, but will return to cull options in the light of the developing science.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what estimates he has made of the percentage of cattle slaughtered under the over 30 months slaughter scheme which could be incubating BSE; [40256]
- (2) what assessment he has made of whether cattle slaughtered under the over 30-months slaughter scheme could be incubating BSE; and if he will make a statement. [40259]
Mrs Browning: No estimates of the percentage of cattle slaughtered under the over 30 month slaughter scheme which could be incubating BSE are available. It is a requirement that all animals slaughtered under the scheme are destroyed and so cannot enter the human or animal feed chains.
Ethnic Minorities
Ms. Abbott: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many women from ethnic minorities are employed by his Department and its agencies; at what grade; and what measures he has taken to encourage the (a) recruitment, (b) employment and (c) promotion of women from ethnic minorities within his Department and its agencies. [39901]
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Mr. Boswell: The number and grades of known ethnic minority women in the Ministry including its agencies is as follows:
| Grade equivalent | Number |
|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 2 |
| SEO | 3 |
| HEO | 12 |
| EO | 29 |
| AO | 99 |
| AA | 91 |
| Total | 236 |
The Ministry has in place comprehensive strategies aimed at ensuring equality and fair representation in recruitment, retention and development of both women staff and of staff of ethnic minority background. These strategies form part of the Ministry's wider equal opportunities policy.
Cattle Imports
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has assessed which suggests that imported replacements for cattle lost in the bovine spongiform encephalopathy cull are putting the health of the national dairy herd at risk from (a) warbles, (b) ticks, (c) brucellosis, (d) foot-and-mouth and (e) bovine pleuropneumonia; and if he will make a statement. [40123]
Mrs. Browning: I am not aware of any evidence to suggest that cattle imported to replace cattle to be slaughtered under the BSE control programme would put the health of the national dairy herd at risk. Clearly increasing trade in live animals does increase disease risk but we are satisfied that the rules for imports of livestock into Great Britain strike the right balance between the removal of barriers to trade and the need to prevent the introduction and spread of serious diseases.
Mr. Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many imported cattle are currently estimated to be at risk from bovine spongiform encephalopathy and if he will make a statement. [40126]
Mrs. Browning: Apart from the United Kingdom there have been recorded cases of BSE in indigenous cattle in France, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland. The numbers of BSE cases confirmed in these countries indicate that the risk of BSE infected cattle being imported is low. The European Commission has called for studies to determine the precise extent of BSE in the Community. A small number of cases of BSE have been recorded in the UK in imported animals but only one, which came from France, is considered with certainty to have been infected before importation.
Pet Food
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how much mammalian meat and bone meal from bovine sources is incorporated into pet food; and if he will make a statement; [40228]
- (2) how much mammalian meat and bone meal is incorporated into pet food; and if he will make a statement. [40227]
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Mrs. Browning: Statistics for the total quantity of mammalian meat and bone meal from bovine sources incorporated into pet food are not available.
Because of our concerns that pet food containing MBM might present a possible risk of cross-contamination of livestock feed, new measures to prevent this were introduced on 1 August. The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1996 now prohibits the production of this material on the same premises as livestock feed unless this takes place in a separate building and there is no contact with equipment or vehicles used in the production of livestock feed.
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