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Agri-environment Schemes
Mr. Dalyell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what funding his Department has allocated in the current year for the operation of agri-environment schemes; and if he will make a statement on the operation of the schemes. [15209]
Mr. Boswell: The 1995 public expenditure survey provision allocated a total of £76.3 million to the operation of agri-environment schemes in England for 1996-97. Of this total, £60.6 million was for payments to land managers, £12.5 million was for running costs and £3.2 million was for monitoring costs.
The agri-environment programme provides a wide range of voluntary incentive schemes to encourage environmentally beneficial farming practices. The Ministry carries out a monitoring programme to measure the success of each scheme and the detailed results of these are published. Schemes will normally be evaluated and reviewed every five years to assess the extent to which policy objectives are being achieved and the efficiency with which schemes are being administered. For example, the five stage I environmentally sensitive areas underwent their second five-yearly policy review in 1996. Results of a comprehensive programme of environmental monitoring have shown the schemes to be successful. A public consultation exercise detailing proposals for improvements to the scheme was conducted as part of the review and, as a result, several new tiers and options have recently been introduced.
The schemes are kept under review and consultation arrangements have recently been expanded at both national and local level to ensure that we get the best out of our schemes.
The Agriculture Select Committee is nearing the conclusion of its inquiry into the Ministry's agri-environment schemes and I look forward to receipt of its report.
Mr. Spearing:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his statement in European Standing Committee A on 12 February, Official Report, column 2, what is the approximate annual production in
19 Feb 1997 : Column: 633
the European Union of raw tobacco and its cost to the common agricultural policy in (i) ecus and (ii) pounds sterling; and what are the annual figures for the three most recent years for which figures are available for (a) quantities of tobacco consumed within the European Union and (b) the tonnage exported to each of the principal export destinations. [16022]
Mr. Baldry:
The latest figures available on EU tobacco production are for the 1994 harvest when 337,091 tonnes were produced. The current annual cost of the tobacco regime is approximately 1 billion ecus or £750 million 1 . For the three most recent years for which figures are available, the quantities of tobacco consumed within the European Union and the tonnages exported to principal destinations were as follows:
| tonnes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | |
| EU consumption(50)497,789 | 560,434 | 485,297 | |
| Total EU exports | 195,882 | 192,362 | 272,179 |
| Principal export destinations: | |||
| Russia | 32,832 | 9,449 | 19,024 |
| USA | 26,021 | 19,370 | 21,188 |
| Algeria | 15,553 | 14,645 | 17,791 |
| Egypt | 14,415 | 38,933 | 13,564 |
| Romania | 14,370 | 7,067 | 3,689 |
| Switzerland | 8,860 | 11,704 | 12,117 |
| Japan | 8,597 | 8,208 | 9,583 |
| Poland | 7,259 | 9,321 | 12,359 |
| Hungary | 4,653 | 2,727 | 80,204 |
| South Africa | 944 | 1,863 | 13,864 |
Source:
Eurostat.
Notes:
(49) Using an exchange rate of 1 ecu = £0.7493.
(50) Consumption, based on production and imports minus exports.
Cattle Cull
Mr. Alan W. Williams: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what have been the total costs incurred to date for slaughter, rendering incineration and storage of carcases under the over-30-months scheme. [16244]
Mr. Baldry: As at 31 January 1997, the following amounts had been paid:
| £ million | |
|---|---|
| Slaughter | 65.6 |
| Rendering | 42.1 |
| Incineration | 5.4 |
| Storage of carcases | 11.6 |
BSE (Chickens)
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what measures he has taken to prevent the spread of BSE to chickens; [16135]
- (2) what action he has taken to investigate whether BSE (a) can and (b) has spread to chickens. [16136]
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Mrs. Browning: There is no scientific evidence to suggest that chickens are susceptible to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. In experimental attempts to establish disease, BSE has not been transmitted to poultry either by oral exposure or by direct inoculation into the brain. Challenged birds survived to five years post-inoculation. Further tests have been carried out on tissues from these chickens by inoculation into further chickens and into mice to see if any infectivity can be detected. These are now eight months post-inoculation without evidence of transmission. I am aware of the recent press reports suggesting that TSEs have been identified in chickens. My Department has been informed by the researcher who holds the material in question that no pathological examination of brain tissue has yet been carried out. My Department has informed him that if on examination a TSE is suspected, he is under a legal obligation to surrender the material to a veterinary inspector of the Ministry of Agriculture for further analyses.
The feeding of mammalian meat and bonemeal to all farm animals, which includes poultry, has been banned since 29 March 1996. This ban was put in place to prevent the accidental feeding of ruminants with feed intended for pigs and poultry, which prior to 29 March could legally have contained meat and bonemeal.
Spongiform Encephalopathy
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the (a) number and (b) species of the zoo animals in which spongiform encephalopathy has been confirmed between 1988 and the present time. [16129]
Mrs. Browning: The following table gives the number of confirmed transmissible spongiform encephalopathy cases in animals kept in zoological collections in Great Britain as at 1 February 1997 1 :
| Confirmed cases shown by year of clinical onset or year of confirmation | Species |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Nyala |
| 1987 | Gemsbok |
| 1988 | (51)-- |
| 1989 | Oryx (Arabian) Kudu, Eland |
| 1990 | Kudu |
| 1991 | Eland(3), Kudu |
| 1992 | Puma, Kudu(3), Cheetah, Oryx (scimitar horned) |
| 1993 | Cheetah(52) |
| 1994 | Ocelot, Eland |
| 1995 | Puma(2), Eland, Tiger(2) |
| 1996 | Ocelot, Bison |
It is not possible to provide the data by date of confirmation or to give details of suspect cases which were not subsequently confirmed as central records are not compiled in this way. Furthermore, there was no statutory requirement to report diagnosis of a spongiform encephalopathy other than BSE or scrapie until November 1994. MAFF would not therefore have been informed of suspect cases for which laboratory examination proved to be negative. To provide the information in the way requested could be done only at disproportionate costs.
(51) Two cases in Ankole cows were recorded in the BSE statistics for cattle for 1991.
(52) Two further cheetahs were confirmed in foreign zoos, having been born and infected in a British zoo.
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Mr. Martlew: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of spongiform encephalopathy have been (a) suspected and (b) confirmed in each of the last 10 years, broken down by species. [16223]
Mrs. Browning: The following table gives the number of suspected and confirmed cases of BSE in Great Britain as at 7 February 1996. The cases before 21 June 1988 are recorded by date of clinical onset of disease and the cases thereafter are recorded by date of restriction:
| Year | Suspected(55) | Confirmed(56) |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | (54)-- | 7 |
| 1987 | (54)-- | 435 |
| 1988 | 2,516 | 2,469 |
| 1989 | 8,447 | 7,137 |
| 1990 | 17,323 | 14,181 |
| 1991 | 30,009 | (57)25,032 |
| 1992 | 44,846 | 36,682 |
| 1993 | 42,931 | 34,370 |
| 1994 | 30,261 | 23,944 |
| 1995 | 17,946 | 14,298 |
| 1996 | 10,688 | (53)7,323 |
(53) Incomplete data.
(54) BSE not a notifiable disease prior to 21 June 1988, details of suspect cases not available.
(55) Suspects restricted--only cases showing clinical signs suspicious of BSE are placed under restriction. Some suspects reported by owners will not on close examination justify service of restriction. No central records are kept of such cases.
(56) BSE confirmed--The figures are significantly in arrears of restriction as there will inevitably be a delay in examining the brains, and some animals placed under restriction in 1996 will not yet have been slaughtered.
(57) Includes two Ankole cows in zoos recorded as normal BSE cases.
| Year | Suspected | Confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | (58)-- | 156 |
| 1987 | (58)-- | 179 |
| 1988 | (58)-- | 215 |
| 1989 | (58)-- | 246 |
| 1990 | (58)-- | (59)348 |
| 1991 | (58)-- | (59)989 |
| 1992 | (58)-- | (59)666 |
| 1993 | 492 | 327 |
| 1994 | 291 | 199 |
| 1995 | 220 | 163 |
| 1996 | (59)339 | 209 |
| 1997 | (61)35 | -- |
(58) Details of suspect cases unavailable. Scrapie became a notifiable disease on 1 January 1993.
(59) Figures are distorted because payments were offered for cases between October 1990 and August 1992 when brain pools were being assembled for rendering experiments.
(60) Some results due.
(61) All results due.
The following list gives the number of confirmed cases of feline spongiform encephalopathy by year of confirmation in Great Britain as at 1 February 1997:
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Information on cases in other species is recorded in the answer to the hon. Member's other question about zoo animals.
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