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Fur Farming (Prohibition) Bill

13. Mr. Shaw: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received in support of the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Bill. [117744]

Mr. Morley: In excess of 2,000 representations have been received from members of the public and animal welfare organisations supporting the banning of fur farming.

Farming (New Entrants)

14. Mr. David Taylor: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to help new entrants to the farming sector. [117745]

Ms Quin: The Action Plan for Farming announced at the Agriculture Summit on 30 March will help create a long-term perspective for farming which will be of benefit to both existing farmers and new entrants. In addition, measures under the England Rural Development Plan announced in December will be targeted at new entrants where appropriate.

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Agriculture Summit

15. Mr. Campbell-Savours: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on measures announced as a result of the Prime Minister's agricultural summit. [117746]

Mr. Nick Brown: A wide cross section of farming and food industry interests were represented at the Prime Minister's meeting on 30 March. There has been a good deal of interest in the outcome of the meeting.

Distant-water Trawlermen

16. Shona McIsaac: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about compensation for distant-water trawlermen. [117747]

Mr. Morley: The case for providing compensation for former distant water trawlermen is being given urgent consideration and a decision is expected shortly.

Agenda 2000

17. Ms Ryan: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the savings to consumers from the Agenda 2000 reform of the common agricultural policy. [117748]

Ms Quin: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hamilton, South (Mr. Tynan) on 16 March 2000, Official Report, column 307W.

Farmers (Business Support)

18. Mr. Chaytor: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what business support he is offering to farmers. [117749]

Ms Quin: The Action Plan for Farming announced on 30 March provides help for farmers in relation to diversification, the use of IT, and training and other steps to develop better business practices including £6.5 million which has been allocated to deliver tailored business advice through the Small Business Service.

Dairy Farmers

19. Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what help he is providing for dairy farmers. [117750]

Ms Quin: The Plan for Farming announced on 30 March indicated that we would be paying around £22 million in agrimonetary compensation to dairy farmers this year. Dairy farmers will also benefit from any raising of the maximum weight limit under the Over-Thirty-Months Scheme. It also included the removal of dairy hygiene charges in England. In addition, my right hon. Friend announced last autumn the deferral of cattle passport charges worth some £12 million in total to dairy farmers.

Common Fisheries Policy

20. Dr. Godman: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list his priorities for the review of the common fisheries policy of 2002. [117751]

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Mr. Morley: The Government are pursuing a wide-ranging agenda of improvements to the Common Fisheries Policy. Our priorities include maintaining six and 12 mile limits, improving the integration of environmental policy into the CFP and introducing a greater regional dimension into decision-making.

Farm Incomes

Ms Keeble: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to address the level of farm incomes. [117739]

Mr. Nick Brown: The Government recognise the serious problems facing the farming industry. That is why my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister hosted a meeting on 30 March with farming and food industry leaders to determine a strategy for the future. A copy of the "Action Plan for Farming", discussed at the meeting, has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Departmental Expenditure

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the items in his Department's budget on which planned expenditure was reduced by over £100,000 in financial year 1999-2000 and in each of the previous three financial years. [117972]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 6 April 2000]: The information requested by the hon. Member could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Agrimonetary Compensation

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the amount of agri-monetary compensation (a) claimed by the UK in (i) 1997-98 (ii) 1998-99 and (iii) 1999-2000 and (b) that the Government intend to claim in 2000-01. [117971]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 6 April 2000]: The approximate figures are set out as follows for the following CAP scheme years:

Scheme year	£ million
1997	85
1998	48
1999	264

Because payments relate to scheme years, some of the expenditure falls between calendar years.

In addition, we intend to pay £154 million in 2000 and £44 million in 2001. This is subject to exchange rates remaining as they are, and approval of new schemes by the European Commission.

UK/US Meetings

Mr. Tyler: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what meetings have been held between United States Government officials and his Department in (a) the USA and (b) the UK in the last 12 months, indicating the dates and locations of the meetings and the subjects discussed. [118627]

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Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 11 April 2000]: There have been frequent meetings between United States Government officials and MAFF officials over the last 12 months covering a range of bilateral and multilateral issues. Detailed information in the form requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Sustainable Agriculture

Mr. Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the Government's policies on sustainable agriculture. [117736]

Mr. Nick Brown: In December 1999 this Government set out their long-term strategy for the development of a sustainable industry that must be competitive, diverse, flexible, responsive to consumer demands and environmentally responsible. The Plan I announced on 30 March will help steer the industry in a new direction; it will help ensure that Government and industry work together to find ways to improve profitability; and it provides financial support to ease the process of change for the hardest hit sectors. The Government continue to work to secure a more market- oriented CAP.

Agri-environment Schemes

Mr. Pollard: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what his Department's expenditure is on agri-environment schemes in the financial year 1999-2000. [117728]

Mr. Morley: Payments to farmers under agri-environment schemes in England in 1999-2000 are expected to be £87.4 million. The equivalent figure in 1996-97 was £44.4 million. I am pleased to say that this represents an increase of 97 per cent. over the last three years.

BSE

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make publicly available the latest progress report prepared by his Department on bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [119402]

Mr. Nick Brown: A further Progress Report on BSE in Great Britain was placed in the Library of the House today.

The report outlines the measures which have been taken to protect public health since June 1999, including legislation to establish the Food Standards Agency and to lift the retail ban on beef on the bone and beef bones. It summarises the results of action to enforce existing public health measures. An update on the number of cases of vCJD is included.

There is also a section on the protection of animal health which covers controls on animal feed.

The epidemiology section shows that the epidemic of BSE in the UK continues to decline. The number of clinically suspect cases of BSE reported in Great Britain has continued to fall and for the year to 31 December 1999 was 26.3 per cent. less than for the same period in 1998, and 46.2 per cent. less than for the same period

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in 1997. A continued improvement is expected for the future. The report shows that 63 per cent. of UK herds with adult breeding cattle have never had a case of BSE, including 84 per cent. of beef suckler herds. Reported incidence also shows that herds with more than four cases of BSE account for three quarters of all BSE cases, but represent less than one eighth of all herds.

The section on the European perspective reports the first exports of UK beef produced under the Date-based Export Scheme which started in August 1999. It also covers the Commission's latest proposal for regulation to control and prevent animal transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

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