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12 Nov 2003 : Column 296W—continued
Farming Industry
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of farmers she expects to leave agricultural production in the next five years. [137289]
Mr. Bradshaw: There is no estimate made of the number of farmers expected to leave the industry in the future.
Great Bustard
Mr. Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans there are to reintroduce the great bustard in England; and if she will make a statement. [137122]
Mr. Bradshaw: On the 31 October, I approved a 10-year trial reintroduction of the Great Bustard onto Salisbury Plain. This species has been extinct from England since 1832.
The Licence permits the Great Bustard Consortium, a conservation group, to release up to 40 chicks per year onto Salisbury Plain. The first releases are not likely to be before September 2004. A further licence under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) will be required to permit the import of the chicks from Russia.
The Department will review the trial on an annual basis in consultation with, among others, English Nature, the Joint Nature Conservancy Committee and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. It will be terminated in the event of evidence of harm to the donor population in Russia, or to native biodiversity.
Growth Promoters
Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to restrict the use of growth promoters in (a) animals and (b) fish destined for human consumption. [137558]
Mr. Bradshaw: The authorisation and use of antimicrobials used in farming to promote growth is subject to strict controls set down by the European Union (Council Directive 70/524/EC amended). Under these rules such products cannot be authorised unless they satisfy statutory criteria designed to ensure that, at the level permitted in feedstuffs they will not adversely affect human or animal health or the environment.
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Additionally they may only be used in accordance with the terms set out in an annex to the Directive, which specifies the species in which they may be used, authorised dosage rates and the withdrawal periods that must be applied before animals can be slaughtered for human consumption.
The UK Government supported the recent adoption of a new Regulation that will replace Directive 70/524/EEC from September next year. One of the major consequences of this change will be the phasing out, across the EU, of all remaining antimicrobial growth promoters by 1 January 2006, as a precautionary measure.
In the meantime the Government are continuing to work closely with the industry's Responsible Use of Medicines Alliance (RUMA) both to promote the responsible use of these products and in drawing up plans to assist industry to adjust to their use being banned from January 2006.
Japanese Knotweed
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy to amend the Wildlife and Countryside
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Act 1981 to make it a legal obligation on landowners to clear Japanese knotweed when it spreads within a site. [134227]
Mr. Bradshaw: Section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence for any person to plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild any plant listed in Schedule 9 of the Act, including Japanese knotweed. I have no current plans to amend the Act as the hon. Gentleman proposes.
The Rural White Paper for England "Our Countryside; Our Future" made a commitment to review the provisions of Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 with a view to rationalising the identification and protection of rare and endangered species. This Department aims to consult on this in the near future.
Livestock Industry
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list those livestock auction markets which (a) operated in 1997 and (b) operate currently. [136193]
Mr. Bradshaw: The list of livestock auction markets operating in 1997 is not readily available.
Based principally on information provided by the Livestock Auctioneers Association the lists of livestock auction markets for England and Wales which operate currently and the closures since 1997 are as follows:
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Meat Imports
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what studies she has received of (a) policy on and (b) the cost of meat import controls from areas of high disease risk in (i) other EU member states and (ii) other countries. [136219]
Mr. Bradshaw: We received the Cabinet Office report which included information on other EU member states. A summary of which can be found in section four of the Cabinet Office Review The Organisation of the Government's Controls of Imports of Animals, Fish, Plants and their Products' on the Cabinet Office website. We have received no further studies since then.
The issue of controls on personal imports continues to be discussed regularly in meetings of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health in Brussels.
Mr. Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of the proposed reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on the importation of meat to the UK from South America. [133227]
Mr. Bradshaw: The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy agreed in Luxembourg in June does not affect tariffs and duties on imports of meat from third countries.
Milk
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had with the Department for Education and Skills regarding (a) the provision of free school milk and (b) the extension of the provision of free school milk to all those aged 11 and under. [136034]
Mr. Bradshaw: We have not recently held any discussions with the Department for Education and Skills relating to school milk.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the farmgate prices for milk in the UK; and what the farmgate prices are for milk in other EU nations. [135775]
Mr. Bradshaw: The table gives the most recent data available from Eurostat on the average farmgate price of milk of 3.7 per cent. fat content in euros per 100 kg for the EU 15.
This data show the UK farmgate prices are consistently below the EU average. The reasons for this were examined by KPMG in their report on "Prices and
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Profitability in the British Dairy Chain", which was commissioned by the Milk Development Council. The report concluded that the lower prices were the result of the structure of the UK dairy sector, the comparatively low value of the mix of dairy products in the UK and a low level of innovation. It also suggested a number of areas where the efficiency of the dairy supply chain could be improved.
| 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002(5) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 27.47 | 26.33 | 27.44 | 29.93 | 26.37 |
| Denmark | 30.8 | 30.26 | 30.86 | 32.34 | |
| Germany | 29.52 | 28.47 | 30 | 32.82 | 29.98 |
| Greece | 32.72 | 33.69 | 33.47 | 35.62 | 34.55 |
| Spain | 27.99 | 27.33 | 27.05 | 30.33 | 28.12 |
| France | 28.52 | 28.11 | 28.81 | 29.99 | 29.26 |
| Ireland | 27.92 | 26.66 | 27.2 | 28.56 | |
| Italy | 34.84 | 34.23 | |||
| Luxembourg | 31.45 | 30.65 | 30.53 | 32.73 | 31.89 |
| Netherlands | 30.59 | 28.62 | 29.15 | 31.27 | 29.65 |
| Austria | 27.64 | 27.76 | 27.83 | 31.76 | 30.14 |
| Portugal | 28.39 | 28.49 | 28.97 | 32.17 | 32.87 |
| Finland | 32.05 | 32.15 | 32.72 | 33.97 | 34.36 |
| Sweden | 32.71 | 33.11 | 34.74 | 31.22 | |
| United Kingdom | 26.76 | 26.13 | 26.09 | 25.57 |
(5) Eurostat data for 2002 are not yet complete
Source:
Eurostat Cronos Database
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of the UK milk quota was leased in each of the last 10 years. [135747]
Mr. Bradshaw: The table gives details of the amounts of quota leased in each of the last 10 years, both in terms of volume and as a percentage of total UK quota.
| Quota year | Amount leased (million litres) | Percentage leased |
|---|---|---|
| 1994–95 | 1,230 | 8.69 |
| 1995–96 | 1,327 | 9.37 |
| 1996–97 | 1,381 | 9.75 |
| 1997–98 | 1,490 | 10.53 |
| 1998–99 | 1,552 | 10.96 |
| 1999–2000 | 1,490 | 10.52 |
| 2000–01 | 1,445 | 10.20 |
| 2001–02 | 2,116 | 14.93 |
| 2002–03 | 2,039 | 14.39 |
| 2003–04 | (6)194 | 1.37 |
(6) The figure for 2003–04 represents the current total as at 29 October. It is significantly lower than previous years, in part because the figure is not for a complete year, but also because of the effects of the Thomsen ECJ judgment (which has meant that non-producing quota holders will no longer be able to lease out their quota indefinitely). Quota holders who are no longer in active milk production will, by 31 March 2004, have to sell their milk quota, resume production, or otherwise have their quota confiscated.
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Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) amount and (b) proportion of the UK national milk quota was unused in each of the last 10 years. [135748]
Mr. Bradshaw: The table gives the total amounts of unused quota in the UK for the period 1993–94 to 2002–03. The entire national quota allocation (some 14.2 billion litres) was used in the years 1993–94 to 1999–2000 because the UK ended each of them slightly over the quota threshold.
| Quota year | Amount unused (million litres) | Percentage unused |
|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1994–95 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1995–96 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1996–97 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1997–98 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1998–99 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 1999–2000 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2000–01 | 307.4 | 2.17 |
| 2001–02 | 81.9 | 0.58 |
| 2002–03 | 119.4 | 0.84 |
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the UK milk quota has been held by the Government in the national reserve in each of the past five years. [135749]
Mr. Bradshaw: The table gives the total amount of quota in the national reserve for each quota year from 1998–99 to 2003–04. The national reserve quota is divided between two 'pots'—the confiscated reserve holding quota to which the right to restoration applies, and the remainder holding quota which is currently used in the Temporary Reallocation of Quota scheme (designed to help producers who exceed their quota due to herd movement restrictions). Where quota is confiscated, the quota holder from whom the quota is taken reserves the right to apply for the restoration of the confiscated quota within a certain period if production recommences on the holding. At present, the period in which quota can be restored is six years; however, this has been reduced to two years under the new EU Council Regulation which comes into force on 1 April 2004.
| Quota year | Confiscated reserve (litres) | National reserve (litres) | Total | Total as percentage of UK quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 2,193,571 | 3,232,752 | 5,426,323 | 0.04 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,181,337 | 3,232,752 | 5,414,089 | 0.04 |
| 2000–01 | 2,180,719 | 4,608,324 | 6,789,043 | 0.05 |
| 2001–02 | 6,558,258 | 4,820,256 | 11,378,514 | 0.08 |
| 2002–03 | 10,511,463 | 7,255,287 | 17,766,750 | 0.13 |
| 2003–04 | 20,431,426 | 7,342,507 | 27,773,933 | 0.20 |
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has for the future of the milk quota system; and if she will make a statement. [135776]
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Mr. Bradshaw: We have made it clear that we would like to see the milk quota system abolished. It is a bureaucratic constraint on production, it distorts the market, and it adds to the industry's costs. It was, therefore, disappointing that the Luxembourg agreement on CAP reform extended the quota system to 2014/15.
We carried out a consultation exercise on proposed amendments to our national Dairy Produce Quotas Regulations 2002 earlier this year. The proposals related to the possible introduction of two discretionary elements of the Council Regulation on milk quotas, breaking the link between quota and land and a 70 per cent. usage rule, and also some administrative changes. A summary of the responses we received is available on our website at www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/responses.htm. We intend to make an announcement shortly on how we will proceed.
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