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French Beef

Mr. Breed: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on a Europe-wide ban on exports of French beef; and if he will make a statement. [138275]

Ms Quin: My right hon. Friend the Minister attended a meeting on 13 November with Commissioners Byrne and Fischler at which the question of BSE and French beef was discussed. Advice from the Food Standards Agency is that such a ban would not be justified at the present time.

Mr. Martyn Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has made to the European Commission on (a) ending the French ban on British beef and (b) the banning of French beef in the UK. [139591]

Mr. Nick Brown: On 6 September, the UK Government submitted a Statement in Intervention in support of the European Commission's position in the Commission's European Court of Justice case against the French Government for their failure to lift their ban on British beef. I made plain to the Commission and to other member states at the Agriculture Council on 20-21 November that the ban should be lifted.

Preliminary Food Standards Agency advice is that there is currently no need to ban imports of French beef. However, the Agency is commissioning a risk assessment.

Swine Fever

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to visit a pig farm placed under swine fever restrictions. [139643]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 21 November 2000]: I visited a farm affected by swine fever restrictions on 15 November.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what compensation for pig farms placed under swine fever restrictions is available; and when further compensation schemes will be available. [139644]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 21 November 2000]: To address welfare problems for those producers whose pigs do not have classical swine fever but are nonetheless caught by movement controls, the Government have introduced the Pig Welfare (Disposal) Scheme. A

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payment to producers is linked to the scheme, but it is a welfare scheme and has no compensation element. £1.7 million has already been paid out under the scheme.

The industry is about to begin consultations on a levy based Development Scheme that will be used to top-up Government payments under the Pig Welfare (Disposal) Scheme. On completion of that consultation exercise, including addressing any objections, Ministers will be asked to decide whether or not to put a scheme before Parliament for approval.

Over-30-months Scheme

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has of the quantity of cattle carcases in storage awaiting disposal under the over-30-months scheme arrangements. [139632]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 21 November 2000]: There are no cattle carcases in storage waiting disposal under the OTMS arrangements.

During 1996-97, approximately 76,000 tonnes of material, representing some 230,000 carcases, was consigned to cold storage pending rendering and incineration capacity being made available. The last consignment of carcase material was removed from cold storage for processing in October 1997.

Chardon LL

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will summarise the conclusions of the official testing of Chardon LL in France and explain how these provided the British Government with the reassurances required to proceed with the inclusion of the variety on the national seed list. [139629]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 21 November 2000]: Before a variety is placed on the National List it must be shown to be distinct, uniform and stable. The French authorities' testing of Chardon LL concluded that the variety was distinct from other varieties by virtue of its tolerance to glufosinate ammonium, uniform in terms of reproduction and stable in its essential characteristics.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will outline the approval process for the inclusion of a genetically modified seed variety on the national seed list; and at what stage in this process Chardon LL is. [139639]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 21 November 2000]: Applications for the addition of plant varieties to the National List are considered in accordance with the requirements of the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (as amended). For the main agricultural and vegetable species, a variety must be distinct, uniform and stable. Most agricultural varieties must also be of satisfactory value for cultivation and use in the UK. Where material derived from a plant variety is intended to be used as a food or food ingredient which falls within the scope of Regulation No. 258/97/EEC concerning novel foods and novel food ingredients, this must have been authorised under the novel food regulation. For a genetically modified plant variety Ministers also require that a marketing consent has been promulgated under

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Directive 90/220/EC on the deliberate release of genetically modified organisms into the environment. A proposal to add or refuse a variety for the National List is published in the Plant Varieties and Seeds Gazette. Any person affected may make written representations and/or ask to make oral representations before a person appointed by Ministers. A decision by Ministers is not taken until they have considered these representations. An appeal against any decision of the Ministers would be heard by the Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal.

Chardon LL was proposed for addition to the National List in March 2000. A number of affected persons made written representations and/or asked to make oral representations. A Hearing began on 2 October and was adjourned on 15 November until further notice pending resolution of concerns about the DUS system used in France. Meanwhile, MAFF has sought the views of the European Commission on the legal status of the French authorities DUS testing procedures. Chardon LL will only be added to the UK National List if all the legal requirements have been made in full.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the inclusion of Chardon LL on the national seed list. [139637]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 21 November 2000]: Chardon LL was proposed for addition to the National List in March 2000. A number of affected persons made written representations and/or asked to make oral representations. A Hearing began on 2 October and was adjourned on 15 November until further notice after information came to light that the DUS testing of the variety by the French authorities may not have complied with EC requirements. MAFF has sought the views of the European Commission on the legal status of the DUS testing procedures used by the French authorities for this variety. Chardon LL will only be added to the UK National List if all the legal requirements have been met in full.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to limit the right to trigger public hearings into the inclusion of seed varieties on the national seed list under the Seed Regulations 1982. [139628]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 21 November 2000]: I have no immediate plans to propose changes to the arrangement for requesting a hearing on proposed national list decisions. However I shall wish to consider, in the light of the hearing on the proposed addition of a genetically modified plant variety, Chardon LL, to the National List, whether the current arrangements are satisfactory for all parties. If changes are proposed, all interested parties in due course will be fully consulted.

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the public cost to date has been of the public inquiry into the inclusion of Chardon LL on the national seed list; and what estimate he has made of the final cost. [139638]

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Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 21 November 2000]: Up to 15 November 2000, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has expended the sum of £72,741 on the Hearing on the proposed addition of Chardon LL to the National List. Further costs have been incurred but the detailed information necessary to provide a more precise figure is not yet available.

The final cost of the Hearing will depend on the duration of the Hearing which currently stands adjourned.

Pigs

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the instances since 1979 in which the pig sector has been subject to a levy for purposes related to disease outbreaks. [139741]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 22 November 2000]: In 1983, a levy was introduced with the industry's consent for the purpose of eradicating Aujeszky's disease.

Organic Crops

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what factors underlay his policy concerning the level of Government funding for research into organic crops. [140197]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 27 November 2000]: The MAFF programme of research into organic farming supports the achievement of the environmental benefits which may be secured from this system of farming. Funding for this programme has more than doubled since 1997, and it is now one of the highest in Europe.

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