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Consultants

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has made of the amount spent on external consultants by his Department's non-departmental public bodies in each of the last five years. [10172]

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Mr. Boswell: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Milburn: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the actions his Department has taken on each of the recommendations contained in the Cabinet Office report on the Government's use of external consultants. [10173]

Mr. Boswell: The Department produced and implemented an action plan in response to the multi-departmental scrutiny on the Government's use of external consultants and its recommendations. Accordingly, the Department issued new guidance on the employment of external consultants, and revised its procedures for authorising the use of external consultants and for improving information within the Department on consultancy expenditure. Analogous arrangements exist in departmental agencies.

Gelatin

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the amount of gelatin used in (a) human food, (b) animal feed and (c) cosmetic, medical or pharmaceutical products since 20 March. [10413]

Mrs. Browning: We estimate that the quantity of gelatin manufactured in the UK from bovine raw materials which is suitable for food, feed, cosmetic, medical and pharmaceutical uses may amount to approximately 7,000 tonnes. Further details are not available.

Southall Horse Market

Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the recent visit to Southall horse market by his officials. [10652]

Mrs. Browning: The last visit was on 11 December and suitable welfare standards were observed.

Beef Labelling

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consultations he has had with representatives of Muslim and Jewish butchers about the draft EC regulation on beef labelling, document 10495/96; and if he will make a statement. [10527]

Mrs. Browning: Representatives from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Union of Muslim Organisations of the UK and Eire together with other interested organisations were invited to, and attended, a consultation meeting held by the Ministry on 28 October 1996 to discuss the Commission's proposals for Council regulations on beef labelling.

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he has made in renegotiating the terms of the draft EC regulation on the labelling of beef and beef products since 13 November. [10529]

Mrs. Browning: Since 13 November 1996, the draft proposals have been considered twice at Council working group and by the Special Committee on Agriculture and the Council. Further discussions are not expected to take place until the end of this month at the earliest.

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Mr. Lidington: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the impact of the EC regulation on the labelling of beef and beef products, document 10495/96, as currently drafted on the labelling of meat as kosher and halal; and if he will make a statement. [10528]

Mrs. Browning: The proposal as drafted provides for information on methods of slaughter to be included on beef labels providing that those using such labels can verify that information, to the satisfaction of the relevant competent authority.

Farmers (Negative Equity)

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the number of farmers with negative equity; and if he will make a statement. [10546]

Mr. Boswell: No information is available on the equity position of farmers, but the results of the farm business survey indicates that in 1995-96 less than 1 per cent. of full-time farm businesses in England were in a negative equity position.

Departmental Prosecutions

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what factors underlay the delay in replying to the question from the hon. Member for Clwyd, South-West relating to prosecutions by his Department. [10756]

Mr. Boswell: The delay in question was due entirely to an administrative oversight, which is regretted.

Poultry Feed Antibiotics

Mr. Rooker: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research into the effects of poultry feed antibiotics on human drug resistance he has evaluated in formulating voting intentions in the Council of Ministers. [10764]

Mrs. Browning: The Government take very seriously the possibility of the development of antibiotic resistance in humans and animals as a result of the use of antibiotics in animal feed. This is carefully examined as part of the safety assessment of applications for authorisations for antimicrobial products, and is kept under review by the independent scientific Veterinary Products Committee, which advises the Government on the safety, quality and efficacy of veterinary medicines. In considering the use of antibiotics, the committee has consistently followed the principles established in the report of the joint committee on the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry and veterinary medicine--the Swann report--of 1969. The VPC's policy has been that new antibiotics should not necessarily be precluded from therapeutic use in animals but that their prophylactic use should be discouraged. The committee considers each case on its merits against this background.

In 1995 Germany and Denmark took unilateral action to ban the use of avoparcin in animal feed because of an alleged link between its use and the development of bacterial resistance to vancomycin in human medicine. The EU Commission's Scientific Committee on Animal Nutrition--SCAN--evaluated data submitted by

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Germany and Denmark, including research which suggested the possibility of transfer of resistance between animals and man. SCAN concluded that the evidence presented did not establish a risk to human or animal health or to the environment. The VPC examined SCAN's report and supported its conclusions.

Bone Meal

Mr. Rooker: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the current permissible uses of bonemeal in the United Kingdom; and if he will indicate those areas where bonemeal has been banned in the last five years. [10770]

Mrs. Browning: The permitted uses for mammalian meat and bone meal are landfill, incineration and, provided the MBM is not derived from BSE suspects, specified bovine material, or animals slaughtered under the over-30-month scheme--non-agricultural fertilisers and pet food. Controls on the use of MBM have been progressively tightened in the light of experience and the latest available advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, the Government's independent advisor on BSE issues. The controls introduced in the last five years are:

1994--prohibition of all mammalian protein, including MBM, in ruminant feed;

March 1996--prohibition on the feeding of MBM to all farmed livestock;

April 1996-prohibition on the use of MBM as agricultural fertiliser; and

August 1996-the banning, except in very tightly defined and controlled circumstances, of MBM from premises where livestock feed is produced, stored, or used.

Animal Feeds

Mr. Spearing: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 18 December, Official Report, columns 648-49, concerning the actions of the Agriculture Council of the European Community, which members of the Commission proposed to ban the use of specified risk materials in the manufacture of animal feeds; if he will list the materials and animals concerned; and what was the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards the proposal. [10819]

Mr. Douglas Hogg: The proposal in question was by the Commission for a Council decision on the exclusion from human and animal feed of specified risk material as regards transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

For the substance of the proposal--reference number SEC(96) 2300 of 10 December 1996--I refer the hon. Member for Newham, South to the related explanatory memorandum submitted on 6 December 1996 which was deposited in the Library of the House. At the Agriculture Council discussions on 16 and 17 December the United Kingdom Government were one of five to support this proposal.

Countryside Stewardship Scheme

Sir Robert Hicks: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what is the average length of time his

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Department takes to process and approve applications for the countryside stewardship scheme; and if he will make a statement. [8694]

Mr. Boswell [pursuant to his reply, 17 December 1996, c. 576]: The average length of time to process agreements in 1996 is likely to be about six months. This is longer than had been expected, owing in part to receipt of more applications than anticipated. It is the Ministry's intention to reduce the processing time for 1997.

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