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Cattle Slaughter Scheme

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average weight of cattle slaughtered under the over-30-months cattle slaughter scheme; and what proportion of the cattle slaughtered under the scheme exceeded that average weight. [10159]

Mr. Rooker [pursuant to his answer, 31 July 1997, c. 433]: The average weight of cattle slaughtered under the OTMS is as follows:

	Average weight (kgs)	Percentage exceeding average weight
Cows	600	47
Bulls	802	47
Heifers	549	49
Steers	632	49
All animals	604	47

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle weighing (a) between 560 and 609 kg, (b) between 610 and 659 kg, (c) between 660 and 709 kg, (d) between 710 and 759 kg and (e) over 760 kg live weight have been slaughtered under the over-30-months cattle slaughter scheme during 1997.[10160]

Mr. Rooker [pursuant to his answer, 31 July 1997, c. 433]: The information requested is as follows:

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	560-609 kg	610-659 kg	660-709 kg	710-759 kg	Over 760 kg	Totals
Liveweight
Cows	27,250	21,351	12,010	5,230	2,582	68,423
Other	2,700	1,960	1,138	702	1,448	7,948
Deadweight
Cows	24,889	22,886	18,531	13,149	16,643	96,098
Other	2,328	1,863	1,402	1,042	3,952	10,587
Totals	57,167	48,060	33,081	20,123	24,625	183,056

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International Whaling Commission

Ms Shipley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the outcome was of the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission held on 20 to 24 October in Monaco; and if he will make a statement. [13294]

Mr. Morley: The International Whaling Commission's 49th annual meeting was held in Monaco from 20 to 24 October. The United Kingdom delegation was composed of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture,

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Fisheries and Food, assisted by officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and representatives of environmental organisations and veterinary experts. I attended the first day of the conference and took the opportunity to meet with representatives of the environmental organisations and the chairman of the IWC.

At this meeting we made clear the United Kingdom's continued opposition to commercial whaling. We stressed that the UK does not believe that there is any justification

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for any whaling to take place, other than some subsistence whaling by indigenous peoples, and would like to see all other forms of whaling ended. We believe whaling does not serve any genuine need and involves unacceptable cruelty. We also emphasised our continuing support for the current moratorium on commercial whaling. I am pleased to say that a request by Japan for a quota of 50 minke whales, which we and many others considered would have breached the moratorium, was again defeated.

Before the meeting, Ireland had indicated that it intended to put forward a number of ideas for consideration. At the meeting Ireland explained that it was concerned that the inability of the IWC to reach agreement on fundamental issues relating to whale conservation made progress on this impossible and might lead to the break-up of the IWC. It wished, therefore, to explore whether there was any scope to reach an agreement between those opposed to and those in favour of whaling.

With this objective, Ireland suggested:
the revised management scheme (RMS) should be completed and adopted; the RMS, which is currently being developed by the IWC, is intended to ensure that any future whaling takes place only on a sustainable basis and under the full control of the IWC;
any quotas granted under the RMS should be restricted to coastal areas of nations that are currently whaling, creating a de facto ocean sanctuary;
any quotas should be for local consumption only, to prevent the development of international trade in whalemeat;
so called "scientific whaling" should be phased out over a period;
regulations for whalewatching should be prepared to minimise disturbance to whale populations.

There was a preliminary discussion of these ideas. The UK made it clear that, while we were ready to explore all ways of improving whale conservation, we would only support measures which we were convinced would contribute positively to this objective. We wished to see the current moratorium on commercial whaling made permanent, which we believed would be the most effective way of creating a global whale sanctuary, and we strongly supported ending scientific whaling. On the other hand, we had serious reservations about the Irish ideas on coastal whaling, and could not accept any definition of coastal whaling which allowed it to take place up to 200 miles from the coast.

While there was a good deal of support for Ireland's wish to break the current deadlock, a number of other delegations expressed reservations about particular aspects of the proposals. The Irish Commissioner, who was elected IWC chairman at the end of the meeting, will now consider how best to carry matters forward before the next IWC meeting in Oman in May 1998. The UK delegation remains to be convinced that aspects of the Irish proposal will assist whale conservation.

At recent IWC meetings the UK has, with New Zealand, been pressing Japan to end the use of the electric lance, a device used to kill whales wounded but not killed by an explosive harpoon. We believe that there is conclusive evidence that use of the electric lance is inhumane. At this year's meeting we again raised this issue, and I am pleased to say that Japan has undertaken to end use of the electric lance, except in exceptional

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circumstances, from the start of the next whaling season. I believe that this is a significant success and demonstrates what can be achieved by persistence linked to sound science.

As in previous years the UK delegation made clear our opposition to the whaling activities of Norway and Japan. We supported a resolution calling on Norway to reconsider its objection to the moratorium and to halt all commercial whaling operations. We also supported two resolutions strongly criticising Japan's scientific whaling programme and calling on Japan to end scientific whaling.

The IWC agreed a number of new aboriginal subsistence whaling quotas. These included a quota for grey whales, for which the United States have been seeking a small quota for use by the Makah Indians. Since the IWC sets quotas for particular stocks of whales, the quota ultimately agreed also took account of a bid by Russia for a quota for use by the indigenous people of the Chukotka peninsular in Siberia. In discussion the UK pressed for a reduction in the level of quota sought; we also argued that the Makah, who have not whaled for over 70 years, have not established a valid claim for an aboriginal quota. I am pleased to say that the quota finally agreed is significantly lower than was originally proposed; in agreeing it the UK made it clear that our agreement did not imply that we accepted the validity of the case made on behalf of the Makah.

New quotas were also agreed for bowhead whales and for whales hunted by aboriginal subsistence whalers in Greenland.

During these discussions the UK expressed concern about the humaneness of aboriginal subsistence whaling. In the light of these concerns we proposed a resolution which, while welcoming the steps taken so far to reduce the pain and distress caused to whales by these hunts, called for further improvements. The resolution, which was adopted by consensus, also ensures that this issue will be revisited annually by the IWC.

A number of other issues were discussed during the meeting. The UK promoted a resolution on small cetaceans calling on all member countries to take appropriate steps to reduce by catches and directed takes and to encourage further scientific research. We also supported a resolution endorsing the work of the Scientific Committee on threats posed to cetaceans by climate change and pollution and encouraging further research.

DEFENCE

Naval Bases and Supply Agency

Ms Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what key targets have been set for the Naval Bases and Supply Agency for 1997-98. [13094]

Dr. Reid: The chief executive of the Naval Bases and Supply Agency has been set the following key targets:
1. To complete 92 per cent. of assisted maintenance periods for vessels to time, budget and standard.
2. To supply 92 per cent. of available material to rectify operational defects on vessels within required delivery dates.

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3. To establish the NBSA cost per materially available vessel day by establishing a baseline for the unit cost of vessel repair and maintenance, and then setting targets for reducing this cost.
4. To complete integration of the Portsmouth naval base and director supply (south) management structures, and to consolidate the corporate management structure of the agency by reviewing opportunities for rationalisation of the HQ structure.
5. To establish the agency account via the CAPITAL Project, including the provision of an executive information system to meet business requirements, by March 2000. Progress report in March 1998.
6. To achieve year-on-year efficiency improvements of 2.3 per cent.
7. To achieve full accreditation of Investors in People by phased implementation by 2000. Progress report in March 1998.

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