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Countryside Stewardship Scheme
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the (a) cost per point of priority score, (b) average agreement cost and (c) average area for the Countryside Stewardship Scheme was in the last year for which figures are available. [55747]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 21 May 2002]: The score given to applications as part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme assessment procedure ensures that agreements which are eventually funded achieve the maximum environmental value, based on their likely contribution to the scheme's objectives for wildlife, landscape, history and access. The application score is therefore related directly to the environmental benefits likely to be achieved and is not expressed in terms of cost of the eventual agreement.
The average 10-year cost of an agreement starting in 2000 was £52,707 and the average area was 32.29 hectares.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of priority score data for approved countryside stewardship agreements was not logged on the Countryside Stewardship Scheme database in each year since the scheme's introduction. [55746]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 21 May 2002]: All data relevant to approved Countryside Stewardship Scheme agreements are formally recorded, either on the Stewardship database or on file. These include a record of the score given to applications as part of the assessment procedure.
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Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the administrative costs of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme as a proportion of its total expenditure have been in each year since its introduction. [55745]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 21 May 2002]: The proportion of the total Countryside Stewardship budget spent on administrative costs since its introduction is as follows:
| Year | Proportion of budget |
|---|---|
| 1991–96 | (45)— |
| 1997–98 | 31 |
| 1998–99 | 28 |
| 1999–2000 | 26 |
| 2000–01 | 32 |
| 2001–02 | (46)15 |
(45) Figures for the period 1991–96, when the scheme was operated by the Countryside Commission are not available.
(46) 2001–02 figures are provisional and not strictly comparable with previous years, due to the creation of the Rural Development Service on 1 April 2001 and the diversion of staff to foot and mouth disease duties.
Swietenia Macrophylla
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she has received a copy of the memorandum dated 26 March from the European Commission concerning imports of swietenia macrophylla from Brazil; and if she will make a statement. [50457]
Margaret Beckett: We received a copy of the memorandum of 26 March from the European Commission. This advice will be fully taken into account should another cargo of Brazilian mahogany arrive for clearance into the Community via the UK. We have also asked the Timber Trade Federation to advise their members not to import Brazilian mahagony until the present situation is clarified.
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Mahogany
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to publicise the opinion of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Secretariat contained in a memorandum dated 13 March, regarding the import of mahogany from Brazil; and if she will make a statement. [50498]
Margaret Beckett [holding answer 16 April 2002]: We are aware of advice sent by the CITES Secretariat to the German management Authority on 13 March. This formed the basis of a subsequent note from the European Commission to all member states on 26 March. We have passed this on to the Timber Trade Federation and to other Government Departments with an interest in this issue. I attach a copy.
We are not aware of any shipments of mahogany from Brazil to the UK since the Commission's letter was issued. Consideration of any future shipment will take account of this or any subsequent view taken by the Commission and submitted to all Member States.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information she has received concerning action taken by Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands in relation to trade in Brazilian mahogany since 19 October 2001; and if she will make a statement. [50456]
Margaret Beckett: We understand from the German CITES Management Authority that, since the moratorium, three cargoes of Brazilian mahogany have been cleared by German customs and one has been detained at Hamburg. We understand from the Dutch CITES Management Authority that one cargo has been detained at Vlissingen. To date we have received no relevant information from the Belgian authorities.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if big leaf mahogany (swietenia macrophylla) is classified as an endangered species; and what measures she is taking to ensure that illegally logged mahogany is not used in the United Kingdom. [50459]
Margaret Beckett: Big leaf mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla) is listed on Appendix III by certain range states. This means that it is not classified by CITES as endangered but is subject to regulation.
Our main line of defence against the use of illegally logged big leaf mahogany is the CITES and European Union controls on the import of such mahogany. All imports into the Community for the first time must be accompanied by appropriate CITES documentation. Mahogany requires a valid export permit or certificate of origin and a completed import notification. Failure to present such documentation could render any cargo liable to seizure, and illegal trading in CITES listed timber is subject to strict penalties. We are also exploring with our EU partners whether there are changes in EU regulations which would secure better regulation of this trade; and we have made clear to the Brazilians our concern to support their efforts to prevent illegal logging. The Government's Green Guide for Buyers, first issued in 1998 and updated
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last year, gives detailed guidance on implementing the Government's policy to purchase its timber and timber products from legal and sustainable sources.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she was notified of the Brazilian Environment Agency's ban on trade in swietenia macrophylla. [50460]
Margaret Beckett: My Department was made aware of the moratorium on 29 October 2001.
Mr. Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many reports of swietenia macrophylla there have been since 19 October 2001; and what the volume of imports was on each occasion since that date. [50461]
Margaret Beckett: We are aware of three cargoes of Brazilian mahogany which entered the European Community via the UK. These are as follows:
| Date of import | Metres(49) |
|---|---|
| 26 January 2002 | 11.328 |
| 8 February 2002 | 874.7 |
| 5 March 2002 | 198.18 |
| Total | 1,084,208 |
There may be other shipments of mahogany which have entered the UK having been previously cleared into the Community via another member state. Neither my Department nor HM Customs and Excise would be aware of these as no clearance documentation would be required for such intra-Community movement.
Veterinary Medicines
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there were for the illegal use of veterinary medicines by (i) type and (ii) purpose in each of the last five years; [58609]
- (2) how many cases of the illegal use of veterinary medicines have been identified by (a) type and (b) the purpose for which they were used, in each of the last five years. [58608]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 May 2002]: The veterinary medicines directorate's unauthorised medicines section receives complaints about illegal use and improper advertising of veterinary medicinal products. Records are not kept in a format that would allow the specific numbers requested to be provided. However, on average 300 complaints were received in each of the last five years. Each of these is investigated and where there is sufficient evidence of a breach of legislation a prosecution is sought.
In the last five years there have been three prosecutions relating to offences of illegal administration (use) of veterinary medicines. All three cases resulted in successful convictions. Two cases related to illegal importation and administration of vaccines by dog breeders. The third related to the illegal importation and administration by a farmer of an anti-bacterial product for sheep.
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There have also been a further 15 prosecutions resulting in 13 successful convictions for offences relating to the placing on the market of a veterinary medicinal product contrary to the Marketing Authorisation Regulations 1994.
A further eight prosecutions have begun and are still with the courts.
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