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Badgers
Charlotte Atkins:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will announce the next areas to be brought into the randomised badger culling trial. [78578]
23 Mar 1999 : Column: 224
Mr. Rooker:
Using the criteria set out in their report of last July, the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB has now identified the third triplet of trial areas. It is located in east Cornwall, and work will begin there shortly.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the Next Steps Review of the Intervention Board. [78579]
Mr. Nick Brown:
In accordance with the Government's policy on periodic reviews of executive agencies, Agricultural Ministers have agreed that the Intervention Board should commence a thorough evaluation of Agency status in March and produce a report in July 1999. In the light of ongoing issues such as devolution and the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, the reconsideration of the prior options element of the review has been deferred until March 2001.
In order to ensure that all matters are considered fully, comments regarding the performance of the Intervention Board since April 1993, which should be provided by 30 April 1999, would be welcomed from interested parties. The contact point at the Intervention Board for inquiries and correspondence is:
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide further support to farmers in the North West. [77528]
Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 18 March 1999]: The package of measures provisionally agreed in Brussels recently represented a good deal for UK farmers, especially those from the hills.
In addition, beef and sheep farmers are likely to benefit from compulsory compensation as a result of the effects of the introduction of the euro on direct payments. We hope to announce details of this shortly.
Mr. Martyn Jones:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what access the Review of the Public Analyst Arrangements in England and Wales had to information about the sampling and analysis of food samples held by local authorities; and what restrictions were placed on the publication of that information. [77951]
Mr. Rooker:
The Public Analyst Review Team sought information through submissions from interested parties, including local authorities and public analysts, and the Review Team visited a number of authorities and sought information from them directly during those visits. Some of the information relating to their enforcement activities was given in confidence. The Review Report and any non-confidential information gathered has been placed in the Library of the House.
Mrs. A. K. Parker
Intervention Board
Kings House
Kings Road
Reading RG1 3BU.