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Quarantine Regulations
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement regarding the Government's current policy towards quarantine regulations. [40898]
Mrs. Browning: The Government's first priority is public health and our current strict quarantine controls have ensured that the UK is rabies free. The Government are determined that should remain the case. The Government recognise that the current restrictions are onerous for some people and agree that they should be replaced if alternatives offering the same protection become available. The Government would, however, never support any change which increased the likelihood of rabies entering the UK.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) written and (b) oral parliamentary questions have required correction by his Department in each of the past two years. [40627]
Mr. Boswell: This is a matter of public record.
Milk (Dioxins)
Mr. Denham: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will publish the results of his Department's survey of dioxins in milk in the vicinity of Hampshire incinerators. [40873]
Mrs. Browning: A summary of the results currently available, including dioxins in milk from the vicinity of four incinerators in Hampshire, will be published in this month's issue of the MAFF/Department of Health food Safety-Information Bulletin.
Forestry Commission Land
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the plots of Forestry Commission land in South Yorkshire which are (a) currently for sale and (b) being considered for sale; and in each case (i) what is the size of the plot, (ii) what consultation is planned in advance of the sale and (iii) how many representations he has received to date for and against the proposed sale; [40904]
- (2) if he will list the plots of land which have been sold by the Forestry Commission in South Yorkshire in each of the last five years; and in each case (a) what was the size of the plot, (b) what consultation was made in advance of the sale and (c) how many representations he received (i) for and (ii) against the sale. [40905]
Mr. Boswell: The subjects of the questions relate to matters undertaken by Forest Enterprise. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. Gordon Cowie, to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Gordon M. Cowie to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 16 October 1996:
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The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply to your Questions about Forestry Commission land in South Yorkshire.
In answer to your questions I enclose the following information:--
Annex A--a list of land sold since 1991
Annex B--a list of land currently for sale, either on the Open Market or by Negotiation, or currently being considered for sale.
All the properties listed were notified in the Estates Gazette, added to which the local authority have been advised of our intention to sell.
For Annex A, we have no detailed records of any representations.
For Annex B, there has only been one representation received to-date, and that is against the sale of Owston & Duck Holt Woods and Wadworth Woods. The matter is being dealt with separately via Ministerial Correspondence between yourself and the Rt Hon. John Gummer MP which has since been redirected to the Scottish Office to be replied to in due course.
Year Name of property Area (ha)
1991 Bagger Wood (pt) 0.1
Broom Royd 8.3
Crane Moor Wood 1.0
Top Pit Wood 5.6
1992 Bagger Wood 26.8
Lower Lee Wood 5.0
Melton Wood 100.5
Upper Lee Wood 2.7
1993 Bawtry Woods 214.0
Stockbridge By-Pass 2.8
1994 Black Carr 20.4
Cannon Hall Estate 160.4
1995 No sales --
1996 No sales --
Year Name of property Area (ha)
1996 Owston and Duck Holt Woods 64.0
Wadworth Woods 115.0
Green Springs Wood 12.0
Old Park Wood 41.0
Walker Wood 6.0
Hugset Wood 34.0
Millerhill/Wigfield Wood 5.0
Forestry Commission land currently being considered for sale in South Yorkshire
There are no cases being considered at present.
Thirty-month Scheme
Mr. Nicholas Baker: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to reduce the backlog of cull cattle under the 30-month scheme in Dorset. [41217]
Mr. Baldry: A telephone survey of producers carried out by my Department and those in Wales and Northern Ireland revealed a much larger backlog of animals awaiting entry to the 30-month scheme than we had previously estimated. It also showed that some areas, including the south-west of England, were much more seriously affected than others. The Intervention Board is taking urgent steps to increase the weekly slaughter from a level at the end of August of about 23,000 animals a
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week to 55,000 as quickly as possible. A new rendering mix will allow more animals to be slaughtered for a given amount of rendering capacity by consigning more material to cold store. More cold storage space is being contracted and the renderers are making significantly greater capacity available from next week. About 42,000 animals are expected to be slaughtered this week and the number is planned to increase to more than 50,000 next week. In increasing abattoir allocations, the Intervention Board is giving priority to those serving markets and producers in the particularly disadvantaged areas including those in Dorset.
Buildings and Premises (Expenditure)
Mrs. Bridget Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total expenditure on new buildings and premises by his Department and its agencies; and if he will indicate the square footage of new office space purchased or newly rented in each of the last five years. [41152]
Mr. Boswell: The information is as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 25,042,934 |
| 1992-93 | 20,303,048 |
| 1993-94 | 27,631,496 |
| 1994-95 | 42,176,564 |
| 1995-96 | 49,969,517 |
| sq.ft. | |
|---|---|
| 1991-92 | 17,190.10 |
| 1992-93 | 1,199.74 |
| 1993-94 | 10,579.35 |
| 1994-95 | 6,528.73 |
| 1995-96 | 18,445.76 |
Mr. Luff: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to impose a reciprocal ban on the import of beef from any country that bans the import of British beef until such time as that country's Government can satisfy him that its cattle herds are entirely free of BSE. [23148]
Mrs. Browning [holding answer 28 March 1996]: I very much regret that my hon. Friend has had to wait so long for a reply.
Member states of the EU have power to take interim protective measures under article 9 of Council directive 89/662/EEC pending the adoption of EU legislation where there is an outbreak of disease in the territory of another member state.
The United Kingdom has asked the Commission to adopt Community-wide controls on the removal of specified bovine offal from cattle carcasses.
All fresh meat imported into the UK, whether from other member states or third countries, must have been produced in accordance with harmonised Community rules laid down in Council directive 64/433/EEC. In addition, the Fresh Meat (Beef Controls) Regulations 1996 prohibit the sale for human consumption of all
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bovine meat derived from bovines which, at the time of slaughter, were more than 30 months old. This measure applies to all bovines slaughtered on or after 29 March 1996, whether in the UK or overseas, other than those born, reared and slaughtered in those third countries listed in the schedule to those regulations, and those aged between 30 and 42 months from herds registered under the beef assurance scheme. The list of countries is confined to those where the Government are satisfied we can import beef without risk.
The imposition by the UK of any unreasonable barriers to trade would be contrary to our World Trade Organisation commitments. It would not therefore be appropriate for us to take retaliatory action in respect of those countries which have imposed a ban on exports of beef from the UK in advance of the general prohibition on exports introduced under Commission decision 96/239/EC of 27 March.
Mr. Olner:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he intends to review the current maximum lengths of driftnets in respect of the finding of the recent report, cetacean by-catch in the UK tuna driftnets fishery 1995; and what proposals he has to ban the use of driftnets; [24842]
(3) what assessment he has made of the scientific evidence for a ban on high seas driftnets. [24581]
Mr. Baldry
[pursuant to his reply, 16 April 1996, c. 464-65]: The current maximum length of driftnets permitted on UK and other Community fishing vessels is set at 2.5 km in line with the precautionary approach and in response to United Nations resolutions. I am not aware of scientific evidence that justifies a different maximum length or a ban on the use of drift nets. I do not therefore support the European Commission's proposal but I do think that means should be sought to reduce by-catches of cetaceans in high seas driftnet fisheries.
(2) what response he has made to the proposals for a ban on the use of driftnets from the European Parliament and the European Commission; and if he will make it his policy to support an EU-imposed ban on driftnetting; [24580]
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