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European Union Surpluses
Mr. Cox: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the foods currently held in storage in the United Kingdom as European Union surpluses. [20177]
Mr. Baldry: Statistics showing stocks of EC and UK agricultural produce in public intervention and assisted private storage are lodged in the Library of the House.
Meat Hygiene Service (Officials)
Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many officials of the Meat Hygiene Service (a) have been subject to disciplinary action, (b) have been dismissed, (c) have received formal disciplinary warnings, (d) have received formal written cautions and (e) are still under disciplinary investigation for failure to enforce specified bovine material controls in slaughter houses. [20267]
Mrs. Browning:
To date, 45 Meat Hygiene Service employees have been subject to disciplinary investigation as a result of failure to ensure full compliance with SBM controls. Four employees have been dismissed--one of whom was reinstated at appeal--18 have received formal disciplinary warnings and 23 have received written cautions. one officer is still under disciplinary investigation. Before any of these staff are allowed to begin their work again they are required to undergo re-training.
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Mr. Jones:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what retraining officials of the Meat Hygiene Service who have failed to enforce specified bovine material controls in slaughterhouses have to undergo before they are allowed to resume their work.[20269]
Mrs. Browning:
Staff training matters are the responsibility of the Meat Hygiene Service and I have asked the chief executive to reply to you direct.
Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. Martyn Jones, dated 17 March 1997:
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the commercial composts currently marketed in the United Kingdom which incorporate (a) one or more pesticides and (b) imidacloprid; [20356]
Mrs. Browning:
Currently there are no commercial composts containing pesticides approved for sale in the United Kingdom. However there are a number of pesticides, including imidacloprid, which have approval for use by professionals by means of incorporation to compost.
Every application for approvals of pesticides is commercially confidential until a final decision is taken on it.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will ensure that plants raised in compost containing pesticides are clearly identified as such. [20360]
17 Mar 1997 : Column: 372
Mrs. Browning:
Approval is given only if scientific evaluation shows that the product can be used without unacceptable risk to people or the environment. There is thus no need for crops produced with the aid of approved pesticides to be labelled as such.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effects of imidacloprid on human health; and if he will make a statement. [20358]
Mrs. Browning:
Before approval is given to any pesticide chemical, detailed scientific data on health effects, including both acute and chronic effects for pesticide users and for food consumers, are evaluated by the independent Advisory Committee on Pesticides--ACP--on behalf of the Government. The evaluation document for imidacloprid agreed by the ACP has been published and the detailed scientific data, which are protected by rules on commercial confidentiality, may be inspected at the Pesticides Safety Directorate. MAFF does not commission research into the health effects of individual pesticide chemicals.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the extent of the use of imidacloprid in commercial compost. [20357]
Mrs. Browning:
Monitoring of all agricultural pesticides including imidacloprid is carried out by the working party on pesticide usage surveys in a four-year rolling programme. Imidacloprid is a recently approved chemical and does not yet feature largely in survey results. Such uses as have so far been recorded do not include application via compost.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many representations he has received regarding the use of imidacloprid in the product Levington Intercept. [20355]
Mrs. Browning:
Apart from approaches from the company, the Ministry has received two inquiries regarding the use of imidacloprid in Levington Intercept.
Ms Ruddock:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will ensure that any composts containing pesticides are clearly identified as such. [20359]
Mrs. Browning:
A compost containing a pesticide chemical and intended to protect plants grown in it is subject to pesticides legislation and must be labelled as a pesticide. A compost sterilised, disinfected or otherwise treated with a pesticide but not in order to protect plants grown in it is not considered as a pesticide and not required to be so labelled. However, no pesticide may be used to treat compost in this country unless this use has been approved following full scientific evaluation of the potential consequences for people and the environment.
Mrs. Ann Winterton:
To ask the Minster of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the results of the second survey of variable pesticides residues are now available; and if he will make a statement. [20825]
Mrs. Browning:
The results of the second survey of variable pesticide residues were announced on 14 March. A copy of the announcement and of the supporting documents have been placed in the Library of the House.
17 Mar 1997 : Column: 373
The survey results show that levels of residues in the majority of fruit and vegetables fall well below recommended maximum residue levels. However, a small number of apples and peaches, including imports had higher residues than is desirable. We will be reporting these results in full to the Codex Alimentarius Commission so that it can instigate international action further to ensure consumer protection.
A large safety margin is built into the figures used when setting what can be regarded as an acceptable level. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Professor Sir. Colin Berry, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides, have issued statements which make clear that the results of the second survey for variable residues do not change Government advice that fruit and vegetables remain a key component of a healthy diet.
Mr. Salmond:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his Department's policy in respect of meetings between (a) Ministers and (b) officials and the Fishermen's Association Ltd. [20496]
Mr. Baldry:
We arrange meetings with representatives of fishermen's organisations as and when appropriate. There is no distinctive policy regarding the Fishermen's Association Ltd.
Mr. Martyn Jones:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the charitable organisations to which United Kingdom intervention beef will be distributed under the surplus food scheme in 1997. [20657]
Mr. Baldry:
A total of 1,059 applications have been received by the Intervention Board from organisations wishing to distribute canned intervention beef under the surplus food scheme in 1997. These include charitable organisations and others such as local authorities. The distribution applications within the United Kingdom is:
As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) your Parliamentary Question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food about the re-training undertaken by officials who have failed to ensure compliance with the specified bovine material controls in slaughterhouses before they are allowed to resume work has been passed to me to reply.[20269]
As you are aware, the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) was established as an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) on 1 April 1995. It took over from some 300 local authorities responsibility for enforcing meat hygiene, inspection and animal welfare at slaughter legislation in licensed fresh meat premises in England, Scotland and Wales.
The MHS is also responsible for enforcing specified bovine material (SBM) controls in slaughterhouses. It does this most rigorously. A comprehensive SBM training programme has been provided to all inspection staff. The agency's staff are fully aware that they may face disciplinary action as a result of their failure to enforce fully the controls. As you note, staff who have faced disciplinary action undergo a retraining programme prior to resuming work at a plant. Such staff are required to repeat the intensive practical plant based SBM training under the supervision of a Principal Official Veterinary Surgeon. The importance of 100% compliance with SBM controls is reiterated to these staff and they continue to be closely monitored by the plant's Official Veterinary Surgeon to ensure comprehensive and rigorous enforcement of SBM controls.
(2) what requests he has received from manufacturers seeking to use imidacloprid in composts (a) used for growing edible plants and (b) available to the public. [20361]
These applications are being examined and the organisations considered acceptable will be formally designated in due course to distribute the canned beef.
England: 792
Scotland: 149
Wales; 85
Northern Ireland: 33.
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