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Pig Meat Imports
Dr. Tony Wright: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what legal advice he has received on whether it would be possible to prevent the importation and sale of pig meat produced in ways that do not conform to United Kingdom animal welfare standards. [78933]
Mr. Morley: My legal advice is quite clear. Neither the Treaty of Rome nor the rules of the World Trade Organisation allow the UK to ban the import or sale of pigmeat that has not been produced to our own welfare standards.
CAP Reform
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the impact of recent CAP reform proposals on farming in Staffordshire. [78340]
Mr. Rooker [holding answer 24 March 1999]: The package of measures provisionally agreed in Brussels recently represents a good deal for farmers across the UK.
Mr. Keetch: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the impact of the recent CAP reform proposals on (a) farming in Herefordshire and (b) potato cultivation. [78496]
Mr. Rooker [holding answer 26 March 1999]: The package of measures agreed at the European Council on 24-25 March represent real reform to the Common Agricultural Policy which UK farmers will benefit from.
There is currently no CAP regime for potato production and the agreement therefore has no direct implications for potato cultivation.
Mr. Jack:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons reform of the sugar and the sheepmeat regimes was not included by the Council or the Commission in the latest CAP reform package. [79778]
Mr. Rooker:
It is regrettable that the Commission did not include proposals for reform of the sugar and sheepmeat regimes within the CAP reform package. The Commission put forward proposals for the main commodities in structural surplus on the EU market, i.e. cereals, beef and dairy, which it considered were most under threat from market developments; namely enlargement and the present and likely future commitments to the WTO.
During the negotiations the UK pressed for the sugar and sheepmeat regimes to be included in the package, and it continues to press for early reform. In the case of sugar the Commission are required to present proposals before the end of 2000. We believe that the case for early reform of the sheepmeat regime will be strengthened as a result of budgetary pressures arising from the knock-on effects of reforms agreed for the arable and beef sectors.
13 Apr 1999 : Column: 218
Mr. Nicholas Winterton:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the annual cost to individual businesses of the proposed Food Standards Agency, indicating the level at which the levy will be set. [79244]
Mr. Rooker:
We have recently consulted on proposals for a levy of £90 per year on food retail and catering premises that are required to register with the local authority under the Food Premises (Registration) Regulations 1991. The money raised would fund the new costs of setting up and operating the Agency. The Agency's other costs will be met from existing food safety and standards budgets and related cost recovery schemes.
Public consultation on the levy proposals ended on 24 March, and we are now considering carefully the responses we received.
Mr. Lidington:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the possible liability of Women's Institute markets for the levy included in his proposals for the Food Standards Agency; and if he will make a statement. [79613]
Mr. Rooker:
Under the proposals, published for public consultation on 27 January, the levy in connection with the Food Standards Agency would apply to food retail and catering premises registered under the Food Premises (Registration) Regulations 1991. Women's Institute markets, like other retail outlets, are required to register if held on five or more days in any five week period. Individual producers preparing food for sale from stalls run by WI Country Markets Ltd. are not themselves required to register, and are therefore outside the scope of the levy proposals.
Consultation on the levy proposals closed on 24 March. We are considering the comments we received before deciding how to proceed.
Mr. Todd:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many slaughterhouses and cutting plants were operating in the United Kingdom in the categories (a) full throughput red slaughterhouses, (b) low throughput red slaughterhouses, (c) full throughput white slaughterhouses, (d) low throughput white slaughterhouses, (e) full throughput cutting plants and (f) low throughput cutting plants in (i) December 1995, (ii) December 1996, (iii) December 1997 and (iv) December 1998; and what was the average throughput for each category in each year. [79081]
Mr. Rooker:
The tables give the figures of licensed EC approved and low throughput slaughterhouses and cutting premises (red meat and poultry meat) operating in the United Kingdom as at 31 December 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998, respectively. Details of licensed UK meat premises are published in the Meat Hygiene Enforcement Report, which is placed in the Library of the House each month. We are seeking to provide average throughput figures for each category and I hope to place them in the Library of the House immediately after Easter.
13 Apr 1999 : Column: 219
| EC approved | Low throughput | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Slaughterhouses--fresh meat | |||
| 1995 | 295 | 208 | |
| 1996 | 272 | 212 | |
| 1997 | 267 | 200 | |
| 1998 | 263 | 189 | |
| Slaughterhouses--poultrymeat, farmed game bird meat and rabbit meat | |||
| 1995 | 112 | 67 | |
| 1996 | 113 | 71 | |
| 1997 | 105 | 65 | |
| 1998 | 104 | 67 | |
| Cutting premises--fresh meat | |||
| 1995 | 328 | 146 | |
| 1996 | 308 | 150 | |
| 1997 | 293 | 145 | |
| 1998 | 283 | 146 | |
| Cutting premises--poultry meat, farmed game bird meat and rabbit meat | |||
| 1995 | 54 | 24 | |
| 1996 | 58 | 30 | |
| 1997 | 64 | 35 | |
| 1998 | 73 | 46 | |
Guide Dogs (Quarantine)
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he has made in enabling blind ex-servicemen to be accompanied on visits to France by their guide dogs without those dogs having to be held in quarantine on their return to the UK. [79042]
Mr. Rooker: Guide dogs, like all domestic dogs are currently subject to six months quarantine. On 26 March 1999, Official Report, columns 649-50, my right hon. Friend the Minister announced to the House that, in the light of the Kennedy Group's analysis, it is desirable to move as quickly as possible to a system under which dogs and cats coming from European Union and certain other European countries and rabies-free islands could enter the UK without quarantine. Our objective is to bring the new arrangements into operation throughout the United Kingdom by April 2001. We also plan to launch a pilot scheme--or pilot schemes--within the next twelve months. As soon as the specific arrangements for these schemes have been established, these will be reported to the House.
Mr. Wigley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make an immediate derogation from the quarantine regulations to enable Mr. T. J. Ireland, Ty Croes, Garwdol Benmaen, Gwynedd to attend the commemoration of the Normandy Landings with his guide dog, without the dog having to be held in quarantine on his return. [79043]
Mr. Nick Brown:
I have a great deal of sympathy for Mr. Ireland. If his dog met the requirements of the new arrangements I announced on 26 March, it could be exempted from quarantine when those new arrangements are in effect. However, I cannot agree to an exemption now for the reasons set out in my letter to the right hon. Member of 1 April.
13 Apr 1999 : Column: 220
Mr. Nicholas Winterton:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many meetings he has had in the last three months with (a) the President of the Dairy Industry Federation and (b) the Chairman of Milk Marque; and what plans he has to meet further with either. [79161]
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what controls exist in respect of the sale of dairy products of US origin where bovine somatotropin may have been used in their production. [78983]
Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 30 March 1999]: All cows' milk contains small quantities of naturally occurring bovine somatotropin (BST). the manufactured form of BST (rBST) is not permitted for use in the EU. rBST is almost indistinguishable from naturally occurring BST and it is not practicable to establish through testing whether BST is present because of administration of rBST to the animal. Although rBST is permitted in the USA, the country of origin is normally given on most food labels or a manufacturer's address is given.
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