| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Seals
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the quantities of fish eaten by seals in the waters of the United Kingdom annually. [80871]
Mr. Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 17 November 1998, Official Report, column 574.
Public Appointments
Mr. Brady: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the public appointments for which his Department is responsible and which carry a fee or salary, indicating for each type of appointment the fee or salary band which applies. [80759]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 15 April 1999]: "Public Bodies 1998"--copies of which are available in the Library of the House--provides information on the levels of remuneration paid to those serving on the boards of public bodies for which my Department is responsible. Some public appointments, however, are unpaid as many of those who accept public appointment do so on a voluntary basis.
Fisheries Agreements
Mr. Gill: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in which African countries, other than Mauritania, British fishing vessels, British flagged fishing vessels and British registered companies have fisheries interests. [81086]
Mr. Morley: There are no UK vessels currently fishing in the waters of African countries.
Mr. Gill: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which (a) British fishing vessels, (b) British flagged fishing vessels and (c) British registered companies have a beneficial interest in the fisheries agreement with Mauritania. [81085]
Mr. Morley: There are no UK vessels currently fishing in Mauritanian waters under the EU fisheries agreement.
Sand Eels
Mr. William Ross: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what studies his Department has carried out to determine the importance of sand eels as the prey of (a) salmon smelts and (b) sea trout smelts; and what was the conclusion of such studies. [80876]
Mr. Morley:
No such studies have been carried out by the Department.
20 Apr 1999 : Column: 518
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he plans to grant any more applications for provisional seed certification under the non-statutory seed certification scheme. [81263]
Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 19 April 1999]: A number of applications in England and Wales for provisional seed certification under the non-statutory seed certification scheme are being processed through the current growing season. However, the Government will come forward quickly with proposals to amend secondary seeds legislation before the next round of applications are made. If these measures are adopted, there would be no need for the non-statutory scheme to continue.
Mr. Letwin:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has received on the compatibility with Article 36 of the Treaty establishing the European Union of placing restrictions on the import of pork products not produced to UK standards. [81364]
Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 19 April 1999]: In certain circumstances Article 36 of the Treaty allows the maintenance of restrictions on the free movement of goods where these can be justified for the protection of the health and life of humans or animals or on grounds of public morality or policy. However, it is clear from Rulings by the European Court of Justice that we cannot use Article 36 of the Treaty to impose higher UK standards on imports where EU law has been harmonised as it has been in the field of farm animal welfare. Nor is it relevant to the UK ban on the use of Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) in animal feed as this ban is not in place because there is a known health risk to humans or animals in feeding MBM to pigs or poultry. The jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice also precludes reliance on the grounds of public morality or policy in the circumstances with which the hon. Member is concerned.
Mr. Letwin:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the effect on the amount of grant made under the organic aid scheme of recent changes in the definition of unimproved land for the purposes of the scheme. [81272]
Mr. Morley
[holding answer 19 April 1999]: The amount of aid granted under the Organic Farming Scheme will be dependent on the number of applications and the type of land involved. We expect demand to be strong.
Mr. Laurence Robertson:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what powers he has to limit the over-fishing of rivers; what discussions he has had with fishing clubs and river authorities about over-fishing of elvers and salmon; and if he will make a statement. [81261]
Mr. Morley
[holding answer 19 April 1999]: The Environment Agency, which is responsible for the management of inland fisheries in England and Wales, has powers to make byelaws to regulate fishing for salmon and eels including elvers. It can also make net
20 Apr 1999 : Column: 519
limitation orders to limit numbers of net licences in salmon net fisheries. Both byelaws and net limitation orders must be confirmed by Ministers.
Following advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) that extreme caution should be exercised in the management of multi-sea-winter salmon and that the level of exploitation should be significantly reduced in 1999, the Environment Agency proposed the introduction of byelaws to reduce exploitation of spring salmon by both nets and rods in England and Wales. There was extensive consultation on these proposals including advertising in local and national press. The byelaws were confirmed, with modifications, on 14 April.
The Environment Agency and the Ministry have recently commissioned research into the state of eel and elver stocks and levels of exploitation. In addition, the independent group established by Ministers to review all aspects of salmon and freshwater fisheries legislation is considering whether the additional powers are needed to regulate fishing for salmon and eels. The group is expected to report to Ministers in the autumn.
Mr. Letwin:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his Department's definition of free-range hens. [81270]
Mr. Morley
[holding answer 19 April 1999]: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to free-range egg production from hens. Before eggs can be marketed as free-range, EU Commission Regulations require, among other things, that the hens have continuous daytime access to open air runs, mainly covered with vegetation. They also specify maximum outdoor and indoor stocking densities.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to prevent the illegal slaughtering of goats and sheep, involving the removal of hides by oxyacetylene blowtorches; and if he will make a statement. [81394]
Mr. Rooker:
The Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995 (as amended) which implement the EC Fresh Meat Directive (64/433/EEC as amended) in Great Britain, make it an offence for any person to sell for human consumption fresh meat which has not been produced under veterinary supervision in licensed premises.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) will investigate any allegations relating to the illegal production of singed sheep and goat carcases, commonly known as 'smokies'. Where there is sufficient evidence that such activity has taken place, and it is in the public interest to do so, MAFF will prosecute those involved, in co-operation with Local Authority Environmental Health Departments as appropriate.
Mr. Baker:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will require the Advisory
20 Apr 1999 : Column: 520
Committee on Pesticides to take account of the effects on biodiversity in reaching decisions about the clearance of pesticides. [81449]
Mr. Rooker:
The remit of the Advisory Committee on Pesticides is to give advice to Ministers, either when requested to do so or otherwise, on any matters relating to the control of pests in furthering the general purposes of Part III of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. These purposes include
The Committee's members include people with expertise in environmental matters.
"the continuous development of means . . . to safeguard the environment . . . ".
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |