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Pig Farmers
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what analysis he has made of support from the Government of the USA for pig farmers in that country; and if he will make a statement on the implications of that support for United Kingdom producers. [80246]
16 Apr 1999 : Column: 394
Mr. Rooker:
Late last year the USA Government introduced a variety of aid measures for small pig farmers. Although the USA is the EU's main competitor in world pigmeat markets, the impact of these aid measures on UK producers is likely to be indirect and relatively small.
Mr. Sayeed:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to encourage caterers in the public sector to source British pig products. [80245]
Mr. Rooker:
Ministers in MAFF have spearheaded a campaign that seeks to improve communication and understanding between the domestic pigmeat industry and the catering and food service sector, including companies involved in public sector catering. The ultimate objective of this campaign is to increase the usage of pigmeat products in the catering sector by stressing the quality and welfare benefits of British pigmeat, thereby improving market opportunities for UK pig producers.
Mr. Drew:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce measures to ensure that the costs of the Food Standards Agency are not imposed upon farmers. [79879]
Mr. Rooker:
Our detailed proposals for a levy scheme to fund the new costs of the Food Standards Agency, recently the subject of extensive public consultation, do not propose that the levy be applied to farms. However, farm shops required to register under the Food Premises (Registration) Regulations 1991 would be required to pay the proposed levy.
Mr. Wigley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many representations he has received from (a) hon. Members and (b) others on the issue of genetically modified food; and what proportion of these representations called for a restriction on the development or sale of genetically modified products. [80211]
Mr. Rooker:
Since the beginning of 1998, Ministers in this Department have received 1,100 letters from hon. Members about GM foods and biotechnology in general, and approximately 5,500 letters from members of the public and others. Although many of these expressed concerns about the technology of one sort or another, it is not possible to determine the exact proportion which called for a restriction to be placed on the development or sale of GM products without incurring disproportionate costs.
Ms Walley:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from UK honey suppliers regarding potential contamination of honey by genetically modified material, with particular reference to (a) DNA and (b) proteins; and if he will make a statement. [80555]
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Mr. Rooker:
I have received occasional representations from beekeepers seeking advice on the implications of bees foraging GM crops. The Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes hosted a workshop in 1991 to consider the safety of pollen from GM plants in honey. The workshop's conclusion was that the consumption of gene products from pollen in honey was likely to be negligible. The results from three research projects commissioned by MAFF to investigate this further subsequently confirmed this conclusion.
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Mr. Brake:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will (a) list the members of internal drainage boards in England and Wales and (b) publish the register of interests for these members. [81052]
Mr. Morley:
This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.