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Swine Fever

Mr. Letwin: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to ensure that the United Kingdom's EU partners take steps to eradicate classical swine fever; and if he will make a statement on the extent of classical swine fever in other EU countries.[3920]

Mr. Rooker: European Community legislation lays down requirements for the control and eradication of classical swine fever within the territory of a Member State and to prevent the spread of the disease from one Member State to another. Classical swine fever is currently present in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. The situation is being kept under continuous review by the EC Standing Veterinary Committee (SVC), on which the UK is represented. The SVC may adopt additional ad hoc safeguard measures which they believe are necessary to consolidate existing control and eradication measures.

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Sellafield

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what notification his Department has received from British Nuclear Fuels in respect of increases in the discharge of radioactive waste materials from Sellafield. [3820]

Mr. Rooker: The Department receives routine discharge data from BNFL at Sellafield within three months of the end of the appropriate accounting period. In circumstances where a unusually high discharge occurs, the information is passed rapidly, as soon as it is available. Routine discharges are authorised by the Environment Agency. There are statutory powers to protect the safety of food, should it in any way be compromised.

Beef Imports

Mr. Llwyd: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has received on the legality, under EU law, of a unilateral ban on imports of European beef into the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [3793]

Mr. Rooker: We have not sought advice on the legality of a unilateral ban on imports of European beef since we are not proposing to introduce such a ban. The announcement made on 5 June by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Official Report, columns 227-8, related to a proposal to apply current UK controls on specified bovine material to imported as well as home produced beef.

Mrs. May: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what mechanisms for monitoring standards in overseas slaughterhouses his Department has evaluated in connection with its consideration of an import ban on beef from slaughterhouses not meeting United Kingdom standards; and what conclusions have been reached. [4137]

Mr. Rooker: No import ban on beef from slaughterhouses not meeting UK standards is under consideration.

All fresh meat imported into the UK, whether from other Member States or third countries, must have been produced in accordance with harmonised Community rules laid down in Council Directive 64/433/EEC as amended, on health conditions for the production and marketing of fresh meat.

These rules require that, amongst other things, all fresh meat which is intended for human consumption fulfils the required public health standards. As far as slaughterhouses are concerned, they must be approved as meeting the requirements of the Directive and all meat leaving the slaughterhouse must bear a health mark. The inspection, approval and monitoring of slaughterhouses in third countries is the respnsibility of the European Commission. The inspection, approval and monitoring of slaughterhouses in Member States is the responsibility of the competent authority of the Member State concerned, although the Commission make on-site checks to ensure uniform application of the Directive.

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Following advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, however, and in the absence of EU wide rules on the removal and disposal of specified bovine material (SBM), we are now consulting on proposals which would mean that our requirement to remove and dispose of SBM would apply not only to cattle which have died or been slaughtered in the UK, but also to bovine material which has been imported into this country. This is not an import ban.

Hunt Kennels

Mrs. Ballard: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those hunt kennels which the State Veterinary Service has assessed to be unsatisfactory under the BSE enforcement programme, since 1 January. [3826]

Mr. Rooker: The State Veterinary Service (SVS) makes monthly unannounced visits to hunt kennels handling specified bovine material to audit the controls under the Specified Bovine Material Order 1997. Those premises at which failings were found during such visits since 1 January 1997 are listed below. The fact that failures have occurred does not necessarily mean that there is a risk to public health. Visits may be recorded as unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons, including minor, technical and short-lived problems. Following an unsatisfactory visit the operator of the premises is required to take immediate remedial action. A further unannounced visit is made shortly afterwards to check that this has been carried out. List of hunt kennels that the SVS has assessed to be unsatisfactory since 1 January 1997 Sandhurst and Aldershot Beagles Wishton Cottage RMA Sandhurst Camberley Surrey Belvoir Hunt Kennels Woolsthorpe by Belvoir Grantham Lincolnshire NG31 6QG Puckeridge Hunt Brent Pelham Hall Buntingford Hertfordshire Holderness Hunt Kennels Main Street Etton Beverley North Humberside HU17 7PG The Chiddingfold Leconfield and Cowdray Foxhounds The Hunt Kennels Petworth West Sussex Bramham Moor Hunt Kennels Hope Hall Bramham Moor Bramham Boston Spa West Yorkshire

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Pennine Foxhounds Upper Snape Farm Harder Mill Road Meltham Huddersfield West Yorkshire Llangibby Foxhounds Hunt Kennels Llangibby Usk Gwent Devon and Somerset Stag Hounds The Kennels Exford Minehead Somerset The Kennels Brocklsby park Habrough South Humberside DN37 8PJ Zetland Hunt Kennels The Kennels Aldborough St. John Richmond Surrey Tedworth Foxhounds The Kennels Westcourt Burbage Marlborough Wiltshire SN8 3BW

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Stevenstone Foxhounds The Old Kennels Torrington Station Torrington Devon Pentyrch Hunt Kennels The Kennels Twyncoed Road Pentyrch Cardiff Mid Glamorgan Modbury Harriers The Kennels Flete Ermington Ivybridge Devon South Shropshire Hunt Annscroft Shrewsbury Shropshire SY5 8AA

Departmental Wages

Mr. Tom King: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many, (a) full-time and (b) part-time persons employed by his Department and its agencies are paid (i) less than £4 an hour, (ii) less than £3.50 an hour and (ii) less than £3 an hour. [4189]

Mr. Morley: Staff in the Department are salaried and are not paid by the hour. However, I am able to provide a breakdown based on salary levels divided by normal full-time working hours of 36 hours per week in London or 37 hours elsewhere. This is set out in the table below.

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	Full-time			Part-time
	Number of staff less than £4/hour	Number of staff less than £3.50/hour	Number of staff less than £3/hour	Number of staff less than £4/hour	Number of staff less than £3.50/hour	Number of staff less than £3/hour
Core MAFF	606	55	0	33	0	0
CEFAS	13	2	0	0	4	0
PSD	8	5	0	0	0	0
VMD	4	0	0	0	0	0
FRCA	8	5	0	2	1	0
VLA	27	0	0	7	0	0
MHS	1	0	0	0	0	0
CSL	2	0	0	1	0	0
Total	669	67	0	43	5	0

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The figures in the left-hand columns do not incorporate the totals from the other columns.

The above figures reflect 1996-97 salaries as the 1997 pay reviews have not yet been implemented.

Genetically Modified Food

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which countries require the labelling as such of genetically modified food. [4283]

Mr. Rooker: There are currently no internationally harmonised rules for labelling genetically modified (GM) foods. The main producers of these, the United States, Canada and Japan, do not require them to be labelled as such. In Europe, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and ourselves have all operated rules or guidelines governing the labelling of these materials for

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some time. As from 15 May, these were superseded by the labelling requirements of the EC Novel Foods Regulation (258/97) and we shall be pressing to ensure that the application of these leads to all foods being labelled if they contain GM material regardless of whether or not they have been segregated from conventional materials at an earlier stage in the food chain.

Beef Farmers

Mr. Burnett: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will raise the 30 month cull limit to 36 months, with special reference to beef farmers using traditional, extensive grass-based systems. [3051]

Mr. Rooker [holding answer given on 19 June 1997]: No. The Beef Assurance Scheme already provides for eligible animals aged to and including 42 months to be sold for human consumption. Eligible animals are those

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from specialist, mainly grass reared beef herds in which no case of BSE has ever occurred and in which the risk of BSE occurring in the future is considered very low.

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