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Butter
Mr. Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much spreadable butter was imported in 1995; and from which countries. [7231]
Mr. Baldry: Official UK statistics on imports of butter in 1995 do not distinguish between spreadable and other types of butter. Total UK imports of butter, including spreadable butter, 1995 were 104,762 (provisional).
Live Animal Exports
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if the ear tag UK YK 0737 has been used on more than one ovine animal destined for export; [7732]
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- (2) if the ear tag identification UK YK 0737 was the sole means of identification for a sheep destined for export on 2 November. [7730]
Mrs. Browning: UK YK 0737 is the country and flockmark part of the identification mark and, as such, has been used on more than one animal. The ear tag applied to exported sheep also included an individual animal identification number.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the ear tags on sheep identify the place of final loading on to a vehicle as the holding of origin. [7731]
Mrs. Browning: Not necessarily: the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1996 provides, where sheep are to be consigned for export, for an ear tag or tattoo to show the flockmark either of the consignor of the sheep for export or of a previous keeper of the animal. The tag or tattoo must also show the individual identification number of the animal as shown by its accompanying health certificate.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in what circumstances a local veterinary inspector may sign an export health certificate when he has not visited the premises at which the sheep are inspected. [7733]
Mrs. Browning: Veterinary surgeons should certify only those matters which are within their own knowledge, can be ascertained by them personally or are the subject of a supporting certificate from another veterinarian who does have personal knowledge of the matters in question and is authorised to provide such a supporting document. It would therefore be permitted for a local veterinary inspector to sign an export health certificate when he or she had not inspected an export consignment, provided that he or she signed the certificate on the basis of an attestation provided by a local veterinary inspector who had inspected the consignment.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 25 November, Official Report, column 102, concerning consignments of sheep, where the supervision of the loading of 16 consignments took place, and by whom it was supervised. [7736]
Mrs. Browning: The 16 supervised loadings referred to in the answer of 25 November were carried out by Ministry staff at various locations in Sussex, Devon, Essex, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 21 November, Official Report, column 708, what assessment he has made of the practice of not recording communications between inspectors at the port and headquarters at Tolworth and of its implications for accountability. [7720]
Mrs. Browning: There is no need to record every one of the many communications between Dover and Tolworth, but significant matters are recorded.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if his Department is able to trace every ovine animal back to the holding on which the animal was born. [7738]
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Mrs. Browning: The Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) Order 1996 provides for a system of identification and movement records to assist the tracing of sheep.
Hedley Lomas (Ireland) Ltd.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 25 November, Official Report, column 103, what steps his Department will take to settle the claim by Hedley Lomas (Ireland) Ltd. [7734]
Mrs. Browning: In advance of a formal claim, I cannot speculate what action might occur.
MV Cap Afrique
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the inspector at Dover who telephoned the State Veterinary Service and the animal health and welfare sections at Tolworth on 6 November expressed concern regarding the MV Cap Afrique sailing in rough weather carrying livestock. [7718]
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if (a) the necessary journey plans had been approved, (b) export health certificates had been issued for the four consignments of livestock that boarded the MV Cap Afrique on 30 November and (c) the four consignments of sheep had benefited from at least 10 hours rest and had been fed and watered before being loaded at the point of departure. [7722]
Mrs. Browning: We have no evidence to suggest that there were any infringements of the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1994, as amended.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 19 November, Official Report, column 474, if the inspector who boarded the MV Cap Afrique registered concern to the master of the vessel about the sailing on 6 November. [7719]
Mrs. Browning: No. The purpose of boarding the vessel was to ascertain if the master had exercised his judgment in accordance with article 11 of the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1994, as amended.
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of whether the sailing of the MV Cap Afrique on 6 November was likely to cause unnecessary suffering, injury or death to the animals on board the vessel, owing to the weather and sea conditions at the time of sailing. [7721]
Mrs. Browning: I have no reason to believe that the Department's inspectors did not exercise their judgment properly.
Food Poisoning
Mr. Salmond: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the incidence of (a) E. coli
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0157 and (b) campylobacter in animals in England in each year sine 1990 and from 1 January to date. [7211]
Mrs. Browning [holding answer 2 December 1996]:Escherichia coli 0157 is not associated with disease in livestock and there is therefore no definitive information on the number of cases each year. However since 1990 staff at veterinary investigation centres of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency have taken samples from various livestock species during on-farm investigations following the identification of disease in humans that has been associated with individual farms. Some samples, mainly from cattle, have proved positive for E. coli 0157, but insufficient samples have been examined to give meaningful figures for the prevalence of E. coli 0157 infection in these herds. A survey of bovine faeces samples routinely submitted to VICs in England and Wales in 1995 found E. coli 0157 in 0.86 per cent. of 6,495 samples.
Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, the campylobacters most commonly associated with human food poisoning, are commonly found inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract of a wide variety of animals and birds and are rarely associated with disease in animals. Because they are not significant animal pathogens, they are rarely looked for during animal disease investigations. The prevalence of the organisms within flocks and herds is very variable with, on occasions, all animals in individual flocks or herds carrying the organism.
DEFENCE
Animal Welfare (Unclassified Reports)
Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what mechanisms the unclassified versions of the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee's substantive reports are made public; and if he will assess the advantages of making public the annual reports and minutes of the independent ethics committee of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down, in the same way. [6929]
Mr. Arbuthnot: My Department's chief scientific adviser awaits the initial report from the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, which is expected to be delivered before the end of the year. The precise mechanism by which this will subsequently be published has not yet been decided. As regards the publication of the annual reports and minutes of the ethics committee for Porton Down, the position remains as given in my reply to the hon. Member of 18 July 1995, Official Report, column 1162.
RAF St. Athan
Mr. Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost to date of the "Competing for Quality" market test exercise at RAF St. Athan. [7435]
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Mr. Arbuthnot: The cost to the Ministry of Defence to date of the "Competing for Quality" market test exercise at RAF St. Athan is £2.78 million.
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