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Bull Testicles
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will require bull testicles to be separately identified in food labelling. [12852]
Mrs. Browning: The rule permitting such ingredients to be identified simply as "offal" in the ingredients list of products was removed when the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 were introduced on 1 July 1996. Since then, the type of offal used must be indicated. The Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984 prohibit the use of testicles of mammalian species in uncooked meat products.
Organic Farming
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of the farmed area of each member state of the EU is farmed organically. [12854]
Mr. Boswell: Available information shows that, in 1996, organically farmed land constituted less than 1 per cent. of total agricultural area in Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom; between 1 per cent. and 2 per cent. in Finland, Germany, Denmark and Italy; between 3 per cent. and 4 per cent. in Sweden; and between 7 per cent. and 8 per cent. in Austria. Source:
"Impact of EC Regulations 2078/92 on the development of organic farming in the European Union", Dr. Nicolas Lampkin, Welsh Institute of Rural Studies, Aberystwyth.
Mr. Boswell: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Clwyd, South-West (Mr. Jones) on 6 November 1996, Official Report, column 577.
Food Production
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps his Department is taking to encourage more urban food growing; and if he will make a statement. [13010]
Mrs. Browning: The Department's responsibility for food growing is restricted to production on a commercial scale which, by its very nature, tends to be undertaken by agricultural and horticultural enterprises situated in predominately rural and farming areas. Urban production tends to be of the small-scale type associated with leisure, gardening and allotments and is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary for State for the Environment.
Food Premises Inspections
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 22 January, Official Report, column 671, what factors underlay the variation between counties in the use of informal written warnings. [13243]
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Mrs. Browning: Enforcement of food safety legislation in the UK is the responsibility of local authorities and they have several courses of action open to them in dealing with breaches of food law. The use of written warnings will vary from authority to authority depending on the policies of that authority, the types of food premises in that area and the nature of breaches discovered.
Mr. Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what factors underlay the reduction in the number of improvement notices issued by English non-metropolitan district councils to establishments subject to food law enforcement between 1992 and 1995. [13210]
Mrs. Browning: The issue of improvement notices was a new power available to enforcement officers under the Food Safety Act 1990. These figures reflect the expectation that there would be a large number issued during the first few years of the Act coming into force, and that this would fall to a lower level as businesses and enforcement authorities gained experience in the requirements of the Food Safety Act.
Mr. Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 22 January, Official Report, column 671, what factors underlay the reduction in the number of establishments in Lancashire subject to food law enforcement between 1993 and 1995. [13241]
Mrs. Browning: The fall in the number of establishments shown for Lancashire is consistent with an overall fall in the number of establishments shown nationally. The overall decline is due to additional guidance to local authorities which resulted in establishments being excluded from the statistics. This was either because they were not required by the European Commission to be included as part of this statistical return or because they fell outside the immediate planned inspection programme of the authority. All food premises, however, are subject to enforcement procedures and can be inspected regardless of whether they are included in the statistical return or not.
Mr. Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 22 January, Official Report, column 671, what factors underlay the reduction in the number of establishments in Pendle subject to food law enforcement between 1991 and 1992. [13242]
Mrs. Browning: The year 1991 was the first year these statistics were collected. Many local authorities experienced difficulties in setting up systems for collecting the statistics. It is not uncommon, therefore, for the 1991 figures to differ significantly from the 1992 figures.
Food Safety
Dame Peggy Fenner: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to improve the arrangements for the handling of food safety. [14002]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: The Secretary of State for Health and I are today announcing, with the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland, the Government's intention to appoint an independent,
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eminent chairman of a newly created Food Safety Council who will also be an adviser on food safety. The council will advise Ministers on food safety and related matters, take a strategic view of the longer-term agenda, and identify issues cutting across the work of the existing network of independent expert advisory committees. Its membership will be drawn from a wide range of fields with an interest in the safety of the food supply, including both scientific experts and lay members.
The council and food safety adviser will report jointly to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretaries of State for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland. The proposed terms of reference for the adviser and the council are set out below.
Our intention is that the council and the adviser should be free to advise on any matters related to the safety, quality, labelling and authenticity of food and be available as an authoritative source of advice to the general public. These arrangements will strengthen the existing network of advisory committees, but will not detract from the role of the individual expert committees. The food safety adviser will work closely with the chief medical officers.
In addition, we are formally appointing the chief medical officer, Sir Kenneth Calman, as adviser to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on public health matters. This formalises arrangements which in practice have applied for many years. These new arrangements help to confirm the importance of public health advice in the area of food policy.
Mrs. Dunwoody:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the average weekly number of
30 Jan 1997 : Column: 359
timetabled passenger trains between Euston and Glasgow which made a timetabled stop at Crewe for each of the last 10 years. [13198]
Terms of reference for the chairman of the Food Safety Council and food safety adviser.
to advise the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on any matters related to the safety, quality, labelling and authenticity of food; and the Secretaries of State for Health, for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland in the area of their Departments' responsibilities.
to chair the Food Safety Council; and
to communicate information relating to the work of the Food Safety Council to Parliament, the media and the general public.
Terms of reference for the Food Safety Council
to advice the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on any matters relating to the safety, quality, labelling and authenticity of food, and the Secretaries of State for Health, for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland in the area of their Departments' responsibilities, having regard at all times to the views of relevant export bodies and to public concerns;
to co-ordinate those areas of work of the independent advisory committees which fall within the remit of the Food Safety Council and identify issues of common interest;
to advise on how these matters are best communicated to the general public;
to report annually to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State for Health, for Scotland, for Wales and for Northern Ireland on food safety and related matters, and to lay a copy of the report before Parliament.
| Year | Average weekly number of passenger trains |
|---|---|
| 1986 | 3 |
| 1987 | 5 |
| 1988 | 5 |
| 1989 | 4 |
| 1990 | 5 |
| 1991 | 2 |
| 1992 | 2 |
| 1993 | 6 |
| 1994 | 3 |
| 1995 | 3 |
| 1996 | 3 |
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