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Potato Ring Rot (Wales)
3.30 pm
Mr. Bill Wiggin (Leominster) (urgent question): To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the outbreak of potato ring rot at Bwlch and what discussions he has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the National Assembly for Wales to prevent its spread to the rest of the United Kingdom.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Don Touhig): First, I welcome the hon. Gentleman to his new post. He has served on the Welsh Affairs Committee and on the Welsh Grand Committee. He does not represent a Welsh seat, but his constituency is a part of the country that has been contested by our two nations for some time.
Ministers and officials at the Wales Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the National Assembly have been in discussions since we first became aware of the ring rot outbreak at Bwlch last Wednesday, 12 November. The infected potatoes were discovered during a routine annual inspection conducted by the plant health and seeds inspectorate on behalf of the National Assembly. We believe that the potatoes were grown from seed imported from the Netherlands in 2002 and planted in Wales earlier this year. The Assembly and DEFRA acted swiftly. The first priority was to contain the disease at Middlewood farm and assess the risk that it might spread.
Assembly officials visited the farm immediately they were notified of the outbreak to assess the situation. Equipment and machinery on the site were disinfected and sterilised, and the farmer, Mr. John Morgan, who is a seed potato farmer of international reputation, fully co-operated with the public health authorities. To our knowledge, this is the first outbreak of potato ring rot in the UK, and it is a credit to the systems that we have in place that the disease was identified during a routine check.
We are following very strict guidelines agreed in the European Union, and further tests are being conducted on the potatoes at Bwlch. Those tests will take some time to complete.
Mr. Wiggin: Can the Minister explain how this bacterial infection, which is one of the world's most damaging potato diseases, was able to get into Wales? How was the disease able to get past the checks in the Netherlands and in the UK just two years after the devastating foot and mouth crisis? Despite the Government's assurances following foot and mouth, they have failed to provide adequate checks and safeguards to protect the UK farming industry. Why is it that not every batch of imported stock is tested? Should not the Government already have put in place extra surveillance of meat and agricultural imports to prevent our domestic agriculture from being affected by foreign diseases? Will they tighten security for imports on a disease basis?
What about Mr. Morgan? He has complied with the Government, as the Minister said, and done everything he can to ensure that the outbreak remains in his potato
sheds. He has been let down by the security system. Can he expect some compensation for the loss of his business? He will be unable to grow potatoes again for at least four years. Like me, he is deeply concerned about the impact on tourism and the cost to the community. Can the Minister assure the House that Mr. Morgan is the victim, not the villain?What extra resources are the Government putting in place towards plant security, or does the Minister think that enough is already being done? Is he aware that ring rot bacteria can survive for two years in dry conditions? However, is it right that, unbelievably, Mr. Morgan is allowed to sell his potatoes for consumption? It is only his resolve to protect the national industry, and the fact that he has to live with himself, that prevents him from using that route to recoup some of his losses. I hope that the Minister will consider that before ruling out helping this farmer.
What actions have been taken to prevent the disease from spreading? Is there an action plan? Does it take local knowledge into account? How much co-operation is required from potato farmers? How many potato farmers are there in Wales, and has the Minister estimated the size of losses to people throughout the United Kingdom if he fails to control the disease? Has he not learned the lesson of foot and mouth, for example? I hope he has sufficient stocks of everything he needs.
It is known that the infected farm may have supplied seed potatoes to other farms. What steps are being taken to ensure that the seeds are not sown, and that the bacteria are dealt with properly? What assessment have the Government made of the economic consequences of the outbreak for the potato sector? Have the Dutch authorities been contacted to establish where else in the UK seeds of the same origin have gone? Finally, will the Government confirm that they will do more to prevent the disease from reaching Britain?
Mr. Touhig: As far as we are aware, Mr. Morgan has acted perfectly properly throughout the whole business. As I have said, he is a farmer of international repute, and I have nothing but praise for his response to the problem that he discovered.
Our own response should be measured and determined. We were right to act immediately to isolate the bacterium, but—I am not suggesting that the hon. Gentleman did this—we must not imply that this problem is on the same scale as problems that have hit our farming industry before. Farming has gone through a pretty tough time. It is in all our interests to act responsibly, in order to protect the long-term interests of our farmers and rural communities.
No compensation schemes currently exist, although there may well be discussions between the farming unions and various Departments on whether compensation is possible. My colleague the Assembly Health Minister is due to make a statement tomorrow. We have been in touch with the Dutch authorities: indeed, my colleague at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr. Bradshaw), raised the matter with a Dutch Minister at a meeting in Brussels this morning.
There have been some movements of potatoes from the farm in question, but they have been traced, and action has been taken to ensure that they are not taken
anywhere else. They are being examined and tested. As for the economic consequences of the outbreak, I am afraid that it is not possible to make a proper assessment at this stage; but there will clearly have to be one, especially in view of Mr. Morgan's specific difficulties. As for the implications for potato farmers throughout Wales, there are six seed potato growers in Wales, and many other farmers are involved in producing potatoes. All those factors will have to be taken into account when the Government decide on a longer-term response.The hon. Gentleman asked about protecting our country from any import of the seeds. No imports from non-EU countries are allowed, and there is an arrangement for proper checks and inspections of those from EU countries. There is a problem with ring rot in a number of European countries: it has recently been discovered in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and France, as well as parts of north America. As far as we know, this is the first outbreak in this country, although the bacterium was discovered in the late 1800s. I think that our response has been appropriate, but it will take six to eight weeks for us to assess the damage caused to the crop.
Paul Flynn (Newport, West): I join others in welcoming the hon. Member for Leominster (Mr. Wiggin) to his position as Opposition spokesman on Wales. His appointment is in the Tory tradition of appointing alien governors-general for Wales. However, I regret his comparison with foot and mouth disease, which has also been made in the press. It is ludicrous to compare this disease, which can and probably will be contained, with a virulently infectious disease such as foot and mouth. The comparison is not only untrue and inaccurate but extremely damaging. Many people have suggested that there is already a reluctance to book holidays or arrange other tourism activities in the Brecon area, and there have even been some cancellations, because of exaggerated press reports. While we should of course take this matter seriously, should we not also ensure that our comments are restrained and measured?
Mr. Touhig: I agree with that final point. As I said in response to the hon. Member for Leominster, it is important that our response be proper, well thought out and careful. I fear that we are in danger of over-hyping this issue, although I do not think that anyone would want to diminish its importance and seriousness.
I saw press reports over the weekend suggesting that this is the arable form of foot and mouth. We do not accept that at all. My hon. Friend the Member for West Carmarthen and South Pembrokeshire (Mr. Ainger) spoke to me only today about discussions he had with the National Farmers Union in his area over the weekend. It too is concerned that, if our reaction to the disease gets out of hand, people will think it is a huge problem. That would have a huge detrimental effect on our farming industry and on the countryside. We do not want that to happen, so our response must be measured, proper and appropriate to the difficulty.
Sue Doughty (Guildford): First, I apologise for the absence of my hon. Friend the Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik), who normally deals with these issues.
The outbreak is a serious issue and it is important that we take it seriously, but I am concerned that we do not whip up the whole issue into a frenzy that will affect tourism in Wales and the farming industry not only in Wales but in other parts of Britain. I would like it confirmed that the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will not allow the media to whip up the issue into the same problem that we had over foot and mouth.
I seek an assurance that the consignment is fully traceable. What advice can the Minister give about the liability of the original supplier, and what assurance can he give that the burden will not fall on the importers or growers, who, as we have heard, have acted perfectly correctly? We have concerns about the suppliers. What responsibility does DEFRA have for the quality of the inspections by plant health inspectors? How is the number of tests arrived at? Tests led to the discovery of the outbreak. Would more tests have led to the discovery sooner?
Britain had the advantage of having disease-free status. What resources does DEFRA have, once we have contained and sorted out this problem, to regain that status, which is so important for our agricultural export industry? In many other European countries—France, Holland, Spain and Denmark—compensation arrangements are in place. What assessment will the Secretary of State make of parallel schemes that could be adopted for use in this situation? We now understand that at least three farms in west Cornwall and in the Isles of Scilly received consignments of potatoes from the original farm in Wales. Can the Minister tell us how many farms received those consignments?
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