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19 May 2003 : Column 522W—continued
Animal By-products
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what steps she has taken to monitor the practical consequences of the implementation of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation for (a) the disposal of blood from abattoirs, (b) the disposal of fallen stock, (c) the disposal of catering waste to land and (d) the disposal of food waste from small retailers; and if she will make a statement; [110894]
(2) if she will establish a joint working party including representatives from Government and industry to monitor the implementation of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation. [110895]
Margaret Beckett: DEFRA has worked closely with industry representatives and enforcement bodies during the negotiations on the EU Animal By-Products Regulation to identify practical difficulties, and where possible to secure transitional measures to give industry time to make the changes necessary to comply with the new requirements.
The Department is in close touch with the enforcement authorities and has requested that they take a proportionate approach to enforcement. We want to encourage all affected sectors to make every effort to comply with the requirements of the Regulation, however, it is recognised that it may take a little time for new disposal facilities to come on stream.
We will continue to meet with the affected sectors to discuss the progress being made and problems that arise.
There are no plans to establish a formal working party, however regular meetings with stakeholders will continue during the first year of implementation, just as they did during the negotiating phase. A meeting is planned shortly to enable Ministers to discuss these issues with retailers.
Anti-fraud Regulations
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the nature of the support intended by Commission Regulation (E2) 44/2003, 10th January, OJ L7 Vol 46, 11th January, with particular reference to combating fraud. [112495]
Alun Michael: This regulation relates to the export refund system—a CAP market support measure intended to allow EU traders to sell competitively outside the Community. Under the export refund system, eligibility to refund is, in many cases, established when the exporter provides proof that the goods have been imported into a particular destination. In the UK, the export refund system is administered by the Rural Payments Agency which is an Executive Agency of DEFRA.
Investigations by the Commission's anti-fraud arm, OLAF, indicated widespread irregularities in the import of beef, veal and pigmeat products into the territory of the Russian Federation. These irregularities were thought to be attributable to the unreliability of documentation produced by the Russian customs authorities.
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Consequently, OLAF brokered an agreement with the Russian authorities. This was partly intended as an anti-fraud measure and partly in recognition of the problems EU traders were experiencing in obtaining proof of import.
This agreement was enacted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2584/2000. It established a mechanism for communicating information on the movement of goods between the EU and the Russian Federation. The mechanism made it possible for EU authorities to trace exports by road of the products concerned to the Russian Federation and, where appropriate, detect cases in which the requirements for the payment of export refund were not met.
The regulation was amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 44/2003. This extends the agreement, from 1 June 2003, to cover all types of transport. More importantly, it introduces a provision whereby a confirmation from the Russian authorities that the goods have arrived may be regarded as the primary proof of import for the payment.of export refund. Prior to the amendment, such a response could be considered only in conjunction with other supporting evidence. This new provision should ease the administrative burden on EU exporters and authorities while at the same time ensuring effective control of the export refund system.
The UK trade has been kept fully informed of developments in this regard via the Rural Payments Agency's Notices to Traders 1/01 and 36/03 (pertaining to Regulations 2584/2000 and 44/2003 respectively).
Birds
Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on species of carrion-eating birds of the implementation of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation; and if she will make a statement. [109851]
Margaret Beckett: The Regulation permits member states to authorise the feeding of Animal By-Products which do not contain SRM to captive birds of prey. The UK intends to exercise this derogation.
A derogation to permit the feeding of fallen stock to necrophagous birds is available to Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal and France as part of approved conservation measures for vultures. This derogation is not available in the UK.
Countryside Agency
Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much money she has provided to the Countryside Agency in each of the years of its existence for which figures are available. [111644]
Alun Michael: The following amounts of grant in aid have been allocated to the Countryside Agency since its creation in 1999.
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| £ million | |
|---|---|
| 1999–2000 | 48.7 |
| 2000–01 | 55.8 |
| 2001–02 | 71.5 |
| 2002–03 | 94 |
| 2003–04 | 98 |
Electronic Mapping (Leicestershire)
Mr. Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in introducing electronic mapping in Leicestershire; and if she will make a statement. [114274]
Alun Michael: For the reporting period ending 9 May 2003, 89 per cent. of IACS applicants in Leicestershire have had their fields digitised. Of the total 1,446 holdings, 1,090 have received their initial maps. The project is due for completion early in 2004.
Environment Agency
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list (a) the members of the Board of Directors of the Environment Agency and their declared party political affiliations and (b) appointments made to the Board of Directors of the Environment Agency since 1 May 1997 and their declared party political affiliations. [111105]
Mr. Meacher: The current Board members are:
- Sir John Harman (Chairman)
Barbara Young (Chief Executive)
Councillor Colin Beardwood
Mr. Ted Cantle
Mr. Andrew Dare CBE
Mr. John Edmonds
Professor Richard Macrory CBE
Mr. Gerald Manning OBE
Professor Peter Matthews
Professor Jacqueline McGlade
Ms Sara Parkin OBE
Professor Donald Ritchie
Dr. Lyndon Stanton
Mr. Gareth Wardell
Professor Lynda Warren
19 May 2003 : Column 525W
a member of the Labour Party and serves on Worcestershire County Council and West Midlands Regional Chamber.
Gareth Wardell, who was the Labour MP for Gower until May 1997, was appointed by the then Secretary of State for Wales.
No other Board member who has been appointed since 1 May 1997 has declared any party political activity. The only appointments made to the Board since 1 May 1997, excluding the above, were Mr. Alan Dalton and Mr Chris Hampson, the latter on his appointment as Deputy Chair of the Board. They have completed their appointments and are no longer on the Board.
19 May 2003 : Column 526W
GM Crop Trials
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the current sites of the GM crop trials; and if she will make a statement. [112930]
Mr. Meacher: The table below lists the organisations currently holding consent under part B of Directive 2001/18 to release GM crops for trial purposes in England at the locations shown. Consent 01/R33/11 issued to Aventis CropScience UK Ltd covers the programme of Farm Scale Evaluations of autumn sown oil seed rape. This information is also available on the Defra website. GM crop trials in Scotland are subject to consents issued by the Scottish Executive.
| Consent referencenumber | Consent holder and crop | Nearest village, town or parish | Grid reference of release site |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99/R21/6 | Novartis Seeds Ltd(now Syngenta)Fodder beet | Stone, WorcestershireRamsey, CambridgeshireBradenham, NorfolkRaynham, NorfolkBanham, Norfolk | SO 853 748TL 293 877TF 933 084TF 887 258TM 072 889 |
| 00/R33/6 | Aventis CropScience UK Ltd(now Bayer CropScience UK Ltd)Oilseed rape | Bramham, North YorksShellingford, OxonThorganby, LincolnshireSand Hutton, North YorksMeden Vale, NottsFelton, HerefordshireMelbourn, CambridgeshirePiccots End, HertfordshireBanham, Norfolk | SE 446 418SU 306 945TF 192 965SE 675 583SK 604 706SO 561 486TL 389 428TL 049 095TM 088 883 |
| 01/R8/4 | IACR Rothamsted(now Rothamsted Research)Wheat | Harpenden, Hertfordshire | TL 124 136 |
| 01/R29/3 | John Innes CentreBarley | Colney, Norfolk | TG 179 077 |
| 02/R4/12 | Advanced Technologies (Cambridge) Ltd.Potato | Thornhaugh, Peterborough | TF 074 009 |
| 02/R36/01 | IACR-Long Ashton(now Rothamsted Research)Wheat | Harpenden, Hertfordshire | TL 124 136 |
| 01/R33/11 | Aventis CropScience Ltd.(now Bayer CropScience Ltd.)Oilseed rapeFarm scale evaluations | Little Bollington, CheshireGreat Moulton, NorfolkAlveston/Loxley, WarksPiccotts End, HertfordshireBincombe, Dorset Nafferton, East Riding of YorksBurdon, Tyne and WearOakenshaw, DurhamHinton Waldrist, OxonSmarden, KentThroganby, LincolnshireBurgh on Bain, LincolnshireBagley, ShropshireKilnwick Percy, East Riding of YorksLaxton, East Riding of YorksLowthorpe, East Riding of Yorks | SJ 714 872TM 165 902SP 231 535TL 048 098SY 692 841TA 015 620NZ 394 524NZ 205 367SU 379 993TQ 882 397TF 213 972TF 227 876SJ 398 268SE 841 497SE 792 276TA 087 602 |
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