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Agricultural Imports

13. Miss Kirkbride: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on agricultural imports from France. [151398]

15. Mr. Bercow: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on recent trends in food imports from France. [151401]

Organic Farming

14. Mrs. Betty Williams: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received concerning an organic stewardship scheme. [151400]

Mr. Morley: As my hon. Friend will know, the Agriculture Committee has recommended that the Government devise proposals for such a scheme. I have also received representations to that effect from within the organic sector.

Animal Welfare

16. Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his policy priorities with regard to animal welfare. [151402]

Mr. Morley: One of MAFF's objectives is to ensure that farmed animals and fish are protected by high welfare standards and do not suffer unnecessary pain or distress. Our policy priority is to negotiate for high welfare standards on an EU-wide basis.

BSE

17. Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to ensure that scientific advice to Ministers relating to BSE is placed in the public domain. [151403]

Ms Quin: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Wirral, South (Mr. Chapman) on 1 February 2001, Official Report, column 290W.

24. Dr. Gibson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what investment he has made into research for a diagnostic test for BSE. [151410]

Ms Quin: Since 1992 my Department has spent £17.7 million on research projects on producing diagnostic tests for TSEs. This includes work on background science which may lead to the development of a new test, collaborative work in which the approaches of scientists overseas are being further developed and evaluated, and the production and collection of tissues from animals infected with TSEs for use by researchers who are developing diagnostic tests.

8 Mar 2001 : Column: 339W

Mr. Paice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) contracts have been let, (b) different contractors have been let contracts and (c) contracts have been withdrawn by the Government for the disposal of rendered specified risk material and over-30-months scheme material. [152070]

Ms Quin [holding answer 5 March 2001]: Four contracts have been let to three contractors (Fibrogen Ltd., Prosper de Mulder Ltd. and Shanks Chemical Services Ltd. (two)) to burn meat and bone meal (MBM) arising from the rendering of material, including SRM from the OTMS. None have been withdrawn.

Mr. Paice: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the total UK stocks of rendered specified risk material and over-thirty-months scheme material were on (a) 1 May 1997, (b) 1 January 1998, (c) 1 January 1999, (d) 1 January 2000 and (e) 1 January 2001; and how much was disposed of, and by what method, in the years (i) 1998, (ii) 1999, and (iii) 2000. [152068]

Ms Quin [holding answer 5 March 2001]: The total UK stocks of rendered OTMS material (which includes SRM from over thirty month cattle) on the dates in question were as follows:

8 Mar 2001 : Column: 340W

Tonnes

Year	MBM	Tallow
1 May 1997	198,173	115,026
1 January 1998	297,098	159,457
1 January 1999	372,369	190,955
1 January 2000	450,815	205,821
1 January 2001	444,480	214,615

Rendered OTMS material is disposed of only by incineration at authorised premises. The totals incinerated for the years in question are as follows:

Tonnes

Year	MBM	Tallow
1998	15,640	15,896
1999	15,165	28,187
2000	84,455	37,607

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much money has been paid to date by (a) the EU and (b) the UK Government to farmers as compensation for BSE; and if he will make a statement. [152164]

Ms Quin [holding answer 5 March 2001]: The information is provided in the table.

8 Mar 2001 : Column: 339W

								£ million
	1996-97		1997-98		1998-99		1999-2000
	UK	EU	UK	EU	UK	EU	UK	EU
	UK slaughter programmes:
BSE suspected/confirmed cases compensation	5	0	3	0	2	0	1	0
Calf slaughter scheme	51	0	53	0	51	0	10	--
OTMS	205	469	86	202	79	185	79.5	185.5
Selective cull(28)	0	0	115	0	19	0	1	0
Total excluding(28)	261	469	142	202	132	185	90.5	185.5
	Additional EU compensation:
Suckler cow premium	31	46	3	4	0	0	0	0
Beef special premium	17	26	-3	-4	0	0	0	0
Beef marketing payment	23	35	0	0	0	0	0	0
Veal marketing payment	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Promotion	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0
Total	71	107	1	2	0	0	0	0
Gross total excluding(28)	332	576	143	204	132	185	90.5	185.5

⁽²⁸⁾ Not possible to provide the EU/UK split in given time

Note:

Final figures for 2000-2001 not available

8 Mar 2001 : Column: 339W

EU Enlargement

18. Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with his counterparts in central and eastern Europe concerning the effect of enlargement of the European Union on agriculture. [151404]

Ms Quin: Over the past 12 months, my ministerial colleagues and I have held discussions with our counterparts from Poland, Hungary, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania. Further meetings are planned.

8 Mar 2001 : Column: 340W

Dairy Supply Chain

19. Helen Jones: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the work of the dairy supply chain working group. [151405]

Ms Quin: My right hon. Friend the Minister set up the Milk Task Force in November last year to look at ways of improving efficiency and co-operation within the dairy supply chain. We have asked the Task Force to report with recommendations by the end of March.

Fish Stocks (Conservation)

20. Mr. Wilkinson: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the

8 Mar 2001 : Column: 341W

effectiveness of the fish stock conservation measures required under the European Union's common fisheries policy. [151406]

Mr. Morley: Under the Common Fisheries Policy a range of measures are available to assist with fish stock conservation: the annual setting of Total Allowance Catches for the main commercial stocks based on the best available science; technical conservation measures on mesh sizes and gear selectivity to improve protection for juvenile fish; constraints on fleet capacity and effort; and, more recently, stock recovery plans, including closed areas at spawning time, for stocks at risk of collapse. Taken together these measures can, when properly enforced, make an effective contribution to stock conservation.

Livestock Products (Exports)

21. Dr. Palmer: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the value of livestock products exported to the European Union was in the last financial year. [151407]

Ms Quin: Overseas Trade Statistics show that between April 1999 and March 2000 the total value of livestock products exported to the European Union was £1,250 million.

Beef Exports

22. Mr. Ben Chapman: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress his Department has made in promoting British beef in export markets. [151408]

Ms Quin: We have been actively engaged in raising the profile of British beef at a number of Food Shows in Europe, during Ministerial visits to a number of countries, by making representations to third countries' Ambassadors to get import bans lifted. This is a part of an ongoing strategy to raise the profile of British beef.

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