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Gangmasters (Code of Practice)

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish a code of practice for gangmasters; what subjects it will cover; what legal status it will have; and which bodies will be consulted on it prior to publication. [129771]

Mr. Bradshaw: Work is currently going on to draw up a code of practice for gangmasters operating in the agriculture and fresh produce sectors, covering best practice in employing people and supplying labour to other businesses. The intention is that it should cover a range of issues relevant to employment and labour supply, such as health and safety, minimum wages, working hours, entitlement to work and VAT registration. Plans are being prepared to trial the draft code of practice on a voluntary basis with a number of gangmasters and businesses using gang labour during the autumn. Decisions on publication of the code and on its legal status will be taken in the light of this trial. A range of bodies and individual businesses, representing farmers, farm workers, packhouses, retailers and gangmasters, and the Ethical Trading Initiative are

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working in partnership with Government to develop and pilot the Code of Practice. Further bodies will be consulted once a draft version of the Code is available.

GM Birdseed

Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what evidence she has that GM birdseed has been released into the UK environment and on what scale; what procedures are in place or planned to separate out GM lines in (a) canary seed, (b) linseed, (c) millet and (d) rape seed mixes that are imported; and what action she is taking to prosecute those who illegally contaminate the UK environment. [129757]

Mr. Morley: I have no evidence that any GM seeds are being sold as bird-seed in the UK.

The seeds of canary-grass, linseed, millet and oilseed rape are frequently sold as food for wild birds. However at the present time no GM varieties of these plants are permitted for this use. It is the responsibility of the supplier to comply with regulations on marketing of genetically modified organisms. One type of GM rape seed has authorisation for import into the European Union as grain, however it must be crushed and processed so cannot be used as whole grain in bird seed mixes.

We understand that oilseed rape used in UK bird seed mixes is typically sourced in the UK where no GM varieties are permitted for commercial cultivation.

If we were to become aware through existing inspection procedures that an importer was in breach of the law, we would consider prosecution.

GM Foods

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on her discussions with the chief executive officers of ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury and Safeway on 16 July regarding GM foods; and what plans she has to meet the chief executive officers of Marks and Spencer and Waitrose on this issue. [128868]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 11 September 2003]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met with the CEOs of ASDA, Tesco, Sainsbury and Safeway, the four largest supermarket chains, in a listening capacity, in particular to hear their views as part of the public dialogue on GM issues. During the course of discussion, she emphasised the Government's support for proportional and workable measures for the mandatory traceability and labelling of GM foods and crops.

The interests of other retailers, including those of Marks and Spencer and Waitrose, were represented at the meeting by the Director General of the British Retail Consortium.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has had with the European Commission to ensure that GM foods are labelled and traceable. [130096]

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Mr. Morley: The Department, working closely with the Food Standards Agency, has had regular discussions with the Commission and other EU partners on this issue, both at official and ministerial level. Most recently these discussions have taken place in the context of negotiating the new EC Regulation on the traceability and labelling of GM products that was agreed in July 2003,

LANTRA

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list those industries which constitute the representative role of LANTRA; and what plans there are to include additional industries. [130591]

Alun Michael: Lantra represents the following 17 industries:

agricultural crops;


agricultural livestock;


animal care;


animal technology;


acquaculture;


environmental conservation;


equine;


farriery;


fencing;


fisheries management;


floristry;


game conservation;


land-based engineering;


landscaping;


production horticulture;


trees and timber; and


veterinary nursing.

Any proposals to extend coverage would be for discussion between Lantra and the Sector Skills Development Agency. Lantra has assured Ministers that it fully appreciates the importance to link to the work of other similar agencies to make sure that the needs of the diverse rural economy and communities are met. Discussions are currently taking place between Lantra, the Sector Skills Development Agency and this Department about a role for Lantra in coordinating the work of Sector Skills Councils with significant interests in rural areas.

Livestock Disposal

Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of the on-farm burial ban; and if she will make a statement. [129789]

Mr. Bradshaw: No formal assessment has been made, although clearly the ban will have an impact on those farmers who had previously buried fallen stock on farm. That is why the Government have announced they are setting up a low cost voluntary national fallen stock scheme in conjunction with the livestock industry to assist farmers in adapting to the new requirements for disposal of fallen stock.

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In the interim, the Fallen Stock helpline on 0845 8507070 can give advice to farmers on collection services in their area to enable them to dispose of their fallen stock now.

Royal Mail Deliveries

Mr. Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate the Government have made of the change in CO2 emissions arising from Royal Mail's decision to move mail from rail to road. [124150]

Mr. Morley: The Government have made no estimate of the impact on CO2 emissions of Royal Mail's decision, which is a commercial and economic one for the Royal Mail to make. The Government encourage all businesses to adopt strategies that reduce emissions overall.

Rural Development Fund

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to propose detailed provisions on rural development fund payments and their application to tenant farmers. [R] [129635]

Alun Michael: The England Rural Development Programme was established in 2000 and measures under it are available to all farmers, including tenant farmers, on the same terms. Because the Government were keen to ensure that tenants are not disadvantaged in applying for farm diversification or agri-environment schemes, we asked the Tenancy Reform Industry Group to consider this issue. This group, which included representatives from all key industry stakeholder organisations, published its report in June 2003. TRIG has proposed a comprehensive package of legislative, fiscal and other changes that are intended to ensure both landlord and tenant have more flexibility to deal with the long-term nature of rural land management. These recommendations have the support of all TRIG members.

TRIG did not find sufficient evidence to warrant recommending a change to agricultural tenancy legislation to give tenants a greater ability to diversify or participate in agri-environment schemes. However, they have proposed that a new Code of Good Practice should be drawn up to help avoid disputes between landlords and tenants on consent for diversification into non-agricultural activities. The Group also recommended that if, after a period of years the Code of Good Practice was not seen to be working and there is evidence to show that the legislation is acting as a barrier to diversification, legislative change should be considered.

The Government's formal response to the Group's report has not yet been published. However we have asked TRIG to take work on a Code of Good Practice forward and a small working group will be working on this over the autumn.

Softwood

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what controls

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there are on the import of softwoods into the United Kingdom to ensure that they originate from sustainable forests. [129661]

Mr. Morley [holding answer 15 September 2003]: The UK Government support sustainable forest management and are committed to tackling illegal logging and its associated trade.

Under EU law, import controls on illegally logged timber, can only be imposed at EU level. We are therefore working actively within the EU, where this is now being considered. The Government have shown leadership in their strong encouragement of the European Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) process. The European Commission published a proposed FLEGT action plan on 21 May 2003. The plan includes a proposal to draft a new EU regulation to address imports of illegally logged timber in a way that is consistent with EU obligations to the World Trade Organisation.

The FLEGT action plan deals only with legality. The EU's wider objective is to encourage sustainable forest management. Since in many countries forest legislation is based on the premise of sustainable forest management, better law enforcement will in general lead to more sustainable forest management. Where this is not the case, the Commission propose that the EU should encourage a review of the legal framework.

The UK Government are working with other member states to ensure favourable Council conclusions inviting the Commission to proceed with this work as soon as possible.

Mr. Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what records the Government have of United Kingdom softwood timber prices in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001 and (d) 2002. [129663]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 15 September 2003]: Average prices for softwood standing sales in Great Britain are presented in the table.

Financial year	Average price per cubic metre (£)
1999–2000	8.72
2000–01	8.15
2001–02	7.52
2002–03	5.74

Note:

The figures are taken from sales of standing timber on Forestry Commission land.

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