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AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
Beef Ban
Mr. Russell Brown: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has for a new initiative to secure the lifting of the beef export ban. [7711]
Dr. John Cunningham: The Government has decided to adopt a twin-track approach of pursuing a revised Export Certified Herds Scheme, and developing a new proposal for a date-based export scheme. We have put our ideas to the Commission about both schemes, and will press both with equal vigour.
The Export Certified Herds Scheme is being revised taking account of criticisms made earlier by the EU Scientific Veterinary Committee. Eligibility for the scheme would be more restricted than initially proposed, but it would still be open in principle to producers in all parts of the United Kingdom.
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Details of the date-based scheme will be announced when exploratory talks with the Commission have progressed and the Government is ready to put forward a formal proposal.
Mr. Keetch:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what guidance SEAC gives to hauliers concerning the cleaning of vehicles carrying specified bovine material; and if he will make a statement.[6749]
(3) how many inspections have been carried out of the cleaning of vehicles used to transport specified bovine material since 1 August 1996; how many vehicles have failed such an inspection; and if he will make a statement.[6664]
Mr. Rooker:
The cleansing requirements for vehicles transporting waste material form the slaughter of cattle, including Specified Bovine Material (SBM), were considered by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) in May last year. It concluded that decontamination and proper cleaning of vehicles was important but that given the extreme nature of the chemicals which had to be used if chemical disinfection were to be relied upon it was more important to use dilution and washing with large quantities of water and detergent to ensure that vehicles were returned to a suitable state for further use.
The Specified Bovine Material Order 1997 requires any person transporting SBM to ensure that the vehicle, or part of the vehicle, in which it is conveyed is impervious and contains nothing but SBM. It must be kept covered at all times except for loading or unloading or inspection by an authorised officer of an enforcement authority. It also requires that any person transporting SBM shall ensure that the part of the vehicle in which SBM is carried is thoroughly washed and disinfected before any food, feeding stuff or other animal material or any cosmetic, pharmaceutical or medical product is subsequently placed in that part of the vehicle.
Enforcement of the vehicle cleansing requirements set out in the Specified Bovine Material Order 1997 is the responsibility of local authorities. No central record is kept of the number of local authority inspectors that examine vehicles transporting SBM or how many inspections they have made since 1 August 1996 or how many vehicles failed local authority inspections and this information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will ensure that veterinary surgeons have unrestricted access to the inactivated rabies vaccines approved by his Department; and if he will make a statement. [6827]
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Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 7 July 1997]: The British Isles is an internationally recognised rabies free zone for terrestrial animals. We do not allow unrestricted access to rabies vaccine because its use, except for animals going for export or those going into quarantine, is unnecessary.
Mr. Key:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress has been made in concluding the revised protocol on the rabies antibody test referred to in the Official Report, 19 February, column 513; and if the mutual recognition of the test results referred to in the Official Report, 3 March, column 444, has been agreed. [6440]
Mr. Rooker:
The International Office for Epizootics (OIE) has considered the revised protocol and published it as the OIE standard recently. Whilst this is a small step in overcoming the problems of test result variability, we understand that only two laboratories are using the new protocol. The OIE is also making arrangements for a new canine standard serum to be calibrated and validated for use with this test to ensure that different laboratories produce comparable results. As far as we are aware these arrangements are still being made and no timescale for completion of the work is known.
Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many farmers have been found to have been in possession of BSE-contaminated feed since August 1996. [4863]
Mr. Rooker:
Remnant work on the Feed Recall Scheme brought to our attention one farmer who has, since 1 August 1996, been in possession of feed containing mammalian meat and bone meal (MBM). The feed in question was not fed to livestock and has now been safely disposed of. It is impossible to say whether this feed was contaminated with the BSE agent but the controls on Specified Bovine Materials, which require the destruction of all tissues known to harbour BSE infectivity, mean that the likelihood of infectivity being present is very low.
In another incident, a farmer was found to have been storing mammalian MBM in a farm store together with ingredients used in the production of livestock feed. The MBM was disposed of in landfill. Thorough sampling showed no evidence that cross-contamination had occurred, and the premises were not part of a livestock enterprise.
The State Veterinary Service carries out a survey of feed mills and on farm feed mixers for evidence of breaches of feed controls. Since 1 August 1996, when the latest controls came into effect, no evidence of a breach of the legislation has been found.
Mr. Flynn:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has undertaken into the possible (a) agricultural and (b) animal welfare implications of the draft European Parliament and Council directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions; and if he will make a statement. [7353]
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Mr. Rooker:
This draft Directive--which is still under discussion--would not in general either limit or increase the availability of patent protection as compared to that already provided in UK law. The Ministry has not commissioned research into the implications for agriculture or animal welfare. We do not consider that the patent system is the right approach for dealing with ethical and related issues arising from biotechnology. The purpose of patenting is to prevent others claiming to own or trying to use inventions. However, patent holders must also comply with all other relevant legislation and regulations which, for example, give protection to the welfare of animals.
Dr. George Turner:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food what progress his Department has made in meeting the service delivery targets set out in "Commitment to Service". [7544]
Dr. John Cunningham:
The following table sets out the performance achieved by Regional Service Centres against the targets set in "Commitment to Service", second edition.
(2) how many inspectors are available to carry out examination of the cleaning of vehicles carrying specified bovine material; and if he will make a statement; [6686]
Notes:
(7) Final payments made by 30 April 1997.
(8) The relatively high failure rate for F and CGS 1989 non-plan claims is due to a large number of claims being received in the month before the scheme closed, making it impossible to meet the Charter target in many cases.
1. The total percentage has been calculated by setting the entire number of applications or claims cleared within the target time, against the total number received. Applications and claims not cleared due to reasons beyond our control (incorrect information supplied by applicant, etc.) are not included as failures to meet target.
2. The Farm and Conservation Grant Scheme (1991) Plan applications, the Farm Diversification Grant Scheme (Capital Items) Claims, and the Farm Diversification Grant Scheme (Feasibility and Marketing) Claims have all been omitted from the table, as the numbers involved are de-minimis.
3. Three complaints were referred to the MAFF Adjudicator during the year. Two of these complaints were resolved, the other was referred to the Minister. One complaint from a previous year has been referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and is currently under investigation.
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