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Beef Imports
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on the importation of hormone-treated beef from the United States of America; and if he will make a statement. [71537]
Mr. Rooker:
We have received a number of representations on the importation of hormone-treated beef from the United States of America. In each case we
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have provided the assurance that, in line with the European Union (EU) ban on the use of hormone growth promoters in food producing animals, any third country which permits the use of these substances is required to guarantee that no animal, and no meat coming from animals, to which they have been administered will be exported to the EU. Exports for the EU market must be certified accordingly and Commission inspectors verify compliance with all the requirements.
Mr. Garnier:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many acres of farm land in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland have been bought in each of the last five years for which figures are available with funds released by roll-over relief. [71161]
Mr. Rooker:
I regret that the information requested is not available. The data collected on agricultural land transactions do not identify the source of funding for land purchased. The estimated total area of agricultural land sold over the last five years for which figures are available are as follows:
| England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 146,032 | 30,639 | 16,811 | 4,721 |
| 1994 | 163,021 | 27,149 | 13,836 | 4,605 |
| 1995 | 156,785 | 17,202 | 10,735 | 4,050 |
| 1996 | 214,386 | 22,506 | 17,232 | 3,425 |
| 1997 | 200,695 | 33,795 | 12,824 | 2,912 |
In Great Britain sales of less than 5 hectares are excluded, and in Northern Ireland sales of less than 2 hectares are excluded. In Scotland the series excludes sales of whole estates and inter-family sales. For England, Wales and Northern Ireland there is a delay between the date of sale and the inclusion in the analysis whereas for Scotland the analysis is based on the date of sale and is subject to retrospective revision.
Groundwater
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on the EU Groundwater Directive and the cost of its implementation in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [71528]
Mr. Rooker: I have received a number of representations which refer to this Directive. As the Groundwater Directive is a matter for my right hon. Friend, the Minister for the Environment, they have been passed to his Department for an answer.
Tobacco Subsidy
Mrs. Lait:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much the tobacco subsidy to EU growers cost in the last year for which figures are
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available; and when he expects the subsidy to be discussed next in the Council of Ministers. [70405]
Mr. Rooker:
In 1998, the EU spent 868 million ecu (£583 million 1 ) on subsidies under the EU tobacco regime.
In November last year the Commission issued a proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation 2075/92 and fixing the premiums and guarantee thresholds for leaf tobacco by variety group and Member State for the 1999, 2000, and 2001 harvests. This is likely to be discussed at the Agriculture Council soon, but no date has been specified.
Mr. Collins:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the quarantine regulations will apply on their return to the sniffer dogs sent from the United Kingdom to assist in the search for survivors of the recent earthquake in Colombia. [71504]
Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 16 February 1999]: Yes, the two dogs in question returned to the United Kingdom on 4 February and are currently undergoing six months quarantine.
Mr. Jack:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the current statistical risk of dying from new variant CJD as a result of the consumption of beef on the bone (a) using 1999 data together with the SEAC published 1997 risk analysis formula and (b) provided to him by his Department. [70089]
Mr. Rooker:
It has still not been established that nvCJD is caused by exposure to BSE infectivity in food, but the Government, based on expert scientific advice, have always proceeded on the assumption that it could be. There continues to be great uncertainty about the nature of new variant CJD and about how susceptible people may be to infection. It is, therefore, not possible to estimate the current statistical risk of dying from the disease as a result of consuming beef or beef products which had been cooked on the bone.
In its 1997 advice, the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) quoted an estimate of a 1 in 20 chance of one case of nvCJD arising as a consequence of exposure to infectivity in dorsal root ganglia in 1998.
In November 1998, SEAC concluded that it was still not known how many people had become infected with nvCJD as a result of exposure to the BSE agent, nor how much BSE infectivity is needed to cause disease. Consequently predictions as to public health risks are very uncertain and SEAC did not quote specific levels of risk. However, the Committee was of the opinion that, in view of the continued decline in the BSE epidemic, the number of infected cows entering the human food chain would be less in November 1998 than in 1997.
On this basis, the Committee concluded that any risk from dorsal root ganglia and bone marrow in 1999 is less than it was 12 months previously. The pattern of experimental results obtained with bone marrow led the
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Committee to conclude that the risk, if any, from that tissue is likely to be very small. With the Over Thirty Month Scheme in place, the Committee thought it likely that the risk from dorsal root ganglia is also very small and negligible in comparison to the possible risk earlier in the epidemic. Due to the uncertainty, neither SEAC nor Departmental officials has sought to quantify the risks numerically.
The decision to retain the controls on the sale, use and disposal of beef bones was made for the reasons explained to the House by my right hon. Friend the Minister on 4 February 1999, Official Report, columns 1077-82.
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the annual budget for the Meat and Livestock Commission's new quality standard mark for pigmeat; and if he will make a statement on how the success of the scheme will be measured. [71036]
Mr. Rooker:
The funding of the British Quality Standard for Pigmeat and its measures of success are matters for the industry through the Meat and Livestock Commission's Pig Strategy Council.
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the (a) timescale and (b) budget for extending the new Meat and Livestock Commission quality standard mark on pigmeat to other meat products. [70923]
Mr. Rooker:
The British Quality Standard for Pigmeat was developed by the pigmeat industry itself through the Meat and Livestock Commissions Pig Strategy Council. The possible development of quality standard marks for lamb and beef are matters for the respective strategy councils for those products. The budget is to be set-aside for technical and promotional work of this nature is a matter for the MLC in consultation with the industry. Poultry meat is outside the remit of MLC.
Mr. Paul Marsden:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what (a) plans he has for and (b) representations he has received on the incorporation of existing farm assurance schemes into the new Meat and Livestock Commission quality standard mark for pig meat. [70924]
Mr. Rooker:
None; the British Quality Standard for Pigmeat and the various farm assurance and quality schemes in the pigmeat sector are all industry run and industry funded operations. The relationship between them is therefore a matter for the industry itself.
Mr. Chope:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate how many food premises are exempt from the Food Premises (Registration) Regulations 1991 by reason of not being open for more than four days in any consecutive period of five weeks. [71365]
Ms Jowell:
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested is not available.
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Mr. Maclean:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the nature of the involvement of (i) the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Baroness Simons and (ii) the hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane) in the Rotherham Euro Experiment; if (a) ministerial transport and (b) departmental equipment were available to them over the period of their involvement; and what reports have been made by them subsequently. [70789]
Ms Quin:
The Rotherham Euro Ready Week was organised by the local Chamber of Commerce Training and Enterprise Council, the Rotherham Advertiser, and other local public and private sector bodies. It was welcomed by HMG as making a significant contribution to the Government's campaign to raise awareness of the introduction of the Euro.
1 Using an exchange rate of £1 = 1.4887 ecu.
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