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Soil Erosion
Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the progress in combating run off and soil erosion from fields sown to maize. [21147]
Mr. Boswell: The risk of run-off and soil erosion from fields sown to maize can be significant. In response to this the Maize Growers Association, with assistance from this Department and the Environment Agency, has produced a booklet entitled "Managing Maize", which will be sent to all known maize growers next month. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.
Agriculture Council
Mr. Merchant: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held in Brussels on 17 to 19 March; and if he will make a statement. [21564]
Mr. Douglas Hogg: I represented the United Kingdom for part of the Agriculture Council in Brussels on 17-19 March and for the remainder of the period the UK was represented by my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and officials.
The Council reached unanimous agreement on important proposals on cattle identification and beef labelling on a basis of article 43 of the treaty. The identification proposal requires the establishment of computerised systems for tracing cattle movements throughout their lives, improving cattle tagging, and a system of cattle passports similar to the one introduced in Great Britain last summer. Adoption of this proposal will facilitate the implementation of plans to develop a fully
20 Mar 1997 : Column: 724
computerised database of cattle movements in Great Britain. The arrangements agreed on labelling provide for member states to decide whether or not to require the compulsory labelling of beef from the year 2000; and for the details of what information should be provided on labels under a compulsory system to be decided by the Council in the light of member states' experience between now and 1999. The labelling proposal as adopted met UK concerns to have a flexible, informative and less bureaucratic system than that originally put forward by the Commission, and this was secured in the final outcome.
The Council also agreed unanimously a proposal from the Commission determining measures and compensation relating to appreciable currency revaluations affecting farm incomes. The United Kingdom had strongly opposed the original proposal on the grounds that it discriminated against United Kingdom farmers faced with significant revaluations of the agricultural conversion rate for sterling. As a result, the proposal was substantially modified in the course of negotiation and the discriminatory elements removed on terms which fully met United Kingdom requirements.
On BSE, my noble Friend reported to the Council on progress in the United Kingdom on fulfilling the terms of the Florence agreement, and the recent submission to the Commission of a proposal for excluding meat from certified UK herds from the EU export ban. He urged the early submission of this proposal to the appropriate scientific committees, as provided for in the Florence agreement.
The Council had a first discussion of the Commission's proposals on agricultural prices for 1997-98, which include a long-standing proposal to reduce arable aid and set-aside payments. The United Kingdom endorsed the Commission's intention to achieve budgetary savings, but regretted the absence of moves to reduce agricultural support prices generally, or of proposals for the early reform of sectors such as milk, beef and cereals.
In a third structured dialogue with the countries of central and eastern Europe, the Council considered with those countries how to assist in the implementations of the EU's veterinary and phytosanitary regulations. There was agreement on the need for a better exchange of information on EU policy and legislation in this area, and for help from the PHARE programme to establish the required control and inspection facilities.
The Council discussed, at the request of France, the need for changes in the operation of the early marketing scheme for veal and the calf processing scheme. It was agreed that the beef management committee would address these issues as a matter of urgency on 21 March, and would consider inter alia a possible reduction in the rate of calf processing premium in response to a long-standing UK request.
The Council agreed some changes to the mandate of the European Commission in its negotiations with the USA on a veterinary equivalence agreement; and adopted by qualified majority--Spain, Portugal and Italy voting against--a proposal to open a malting barley quota for the USA in order to fulfil the EU's obligations under the World Trade Organisation.
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The United Kingdom raised in the Council the need for an urgent report and proposals from the Commission on the welfare of battery hens, on which the Commissioner promised early action. The UK also backed a German request for the rapid submission to the Council of proposals on the transport of animals.
Mr. Merchant:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the document defining standards for clean livestock is to be published. [21565]
Mrs. Browning:
As foreshadowed in the statement which my right hon. and learned Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food made on 12 March 1997, Official Report, columns 372-74, the existing guidance in the Meat Hygiene Service operations manual has been enhanced today to provide a pictorial guide on dirty animals and the appropriate action to take when such animals are presented for slaughter. This will reinforce to all those involved in slaughtering, as well as other sectors of farming and associated industries, what is expected of them and the controls which will apply if they do not meet the appropriate standards. This issue was included in the interim report of the expert group on E. coli being chaired by Professor Pennington.
Proposals for publicising the potential sources of contamination and how to ensure that contaminated animals do not enter the food chain are being sent to interested organisations today for comment. Once comments have been considered, the Meat Hygiene Service proposes to launch a publicity campaign.
I have placed in the Library of the House copies of the amendment to the operations manual and draft publicity material sent to interested parties.
Mr. Luff:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what targets have been set for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate for 1997-98. [21628]
Mr. Douglas Hogg:
I have set the following targets for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate in 1997-98.
20 Mar 1997 : Column: 726
Mr. Luff:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what targets have been set for the Central Science Laboratory for 1997-98. [21629]
Mr. Douglas Hogg:
The relocation of the Central Science Laboratory to the new purpose-built laboratory near York, with the subsequent closure of four major sites and several smaller sites, will be completed during the summer of 1997. In view of the major changes taking place within CSL, I have decided that during 1997-98 the baseline should be established which will allow efficiency and productivity improvements to be measured in subsequent years. I have set the following demanding but achievable targets for 1997-98 in relation to other areas:
Mr. Luff:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what targets have been set for the Veterinary Laboratories Agency for 1997-98. [21630]
Mr. Douglas Hogg:
I have set the Veterinary Laboratories Agency the following strategic performance targets for 1997-98:
Financial Performance
1. To recover from industry and Government the full economic cost (calculated according to accruals accounting) of each of its main business activities of:
licensing and surveillance policy work residue monitoring.
2. To operate within the net cash allocation as agreed by the MAFF Management Board.
Quality of Service
3. To deliver high quality policy advice to Minister.
4. To deliver high quality scientific assessment work.
5. To determine 80 per cent. of new marketing authorisations within 120 clock days; 95 per cent. within 200 clock days.
6. To ensure that the first assessment of variations outstanding for more than 75 clock days on 1 April 1997 is completed by 31 October 1997 and that a first assessment of renewals outstanding for more than 90 clock days on 1 April 1997 is completed by 31 December 1997; and to ensure that first assessments for variations and renewals arriving after 1 April 1997 are completed within 75 and 90 clock days respectively.
7. To meet target timescales for centralised, decentralised and MRL applications under EU procedures.
Financial
100 per cent. recovery of full costs after allowing for relocation costs;
To achieve a net PES allocation agreed by MAFF Finance.
Efficiency
1 per cent. improvement in utilisation of productive time.
Delivery of Science
At least 90 per cent. of work completed to time and within budget;
Achieve a mean score of 3 on a scale of 0 to 5 for the assessment of customer satisfaction using the established methodology;
Proportion of project milestones achieved to be at or greater than 82 per cent. (MAFF commissioned projects).
Financial Performance
full cost for all Veterinary Laboratories Agency services
management with the Supply Estimates Targets
Efficiency
an overall efficiency gain of 3 per cent.
Service Delivery
85 per cent. of ROAME R and D milestones achieved
Service Quality
achievement of a satisfactory report from a Visiting Group
achievement of laboratory accreditation for the Tissue Culture Section in Virology Department, the Lasswade laboratory and the Veterinary Investigation Centres.
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