Memorandum submitted by Creedy Carver
(X05)
No doubt you will have much information relating
to the problems of imported chicken meat mainly in the form of
breast fillet for further processing. This product coming mainly
from Thailand and Brazil through various countries in the E.U.
is priced at approximately half the price of British product.
It is usually frozen and contains varying amounts of added water
and other chemicals that the clever food scientists have managed
to incorporate. It is substituting our local breast fillet and
gets lost in the system because once it is further processed it
can carry an EU health mark. The loyal British shopper is hoodwinked
into thinking that the ready to cook meal is derived from British
reared chicken. We need a labelling system that at least gives
our customers the opportunity to choose British if they so wish.
It may of course be the government's intent
to allow other countries to produce our food for us and let Britain
become a massive landscape garden for the benefit of the urban
masses. After all, labour in Asia and South America is cheap and
animal welfare is regarded as of low importance especially as
the bird is reared to die in any case. This may be sound policy
as long as we are good friends with other countries of the world.
Recent events rather question that. A sound profitable home base
of production would make a very good insurance.
In Britain we happily have a different attitude
towards bird welfare and latterly a greater respect for our countryside.
The British Public expects a bird free from added water and chemicals
at the processing plant and also a bird reared without the use
of antibiotics and growth promoters. British birds are largely
reared in this manner and it is not surprising that they cannot
compete with foreign competition where these enhancers are used.
I have reared Free Range Chicken for some 14
years now and act as spokesman for a group of farmers. Our birds
are clearly labelled and sell well at a sensible price. Not only
is the bird welfare of paramount importance but also we are becoming
more aware of the importance of sympathetic farming towards our
indigenous wildlife. Perhaps our farms may look a little less
tidy but we are changing our policies to try to encourage our
wildlife. The problem is that we can never be as bio secure as
closed housed intensive units therefore our birds are especially
vulnerable to imported diseases. The EU is supposed to be a responsible
and effective body in controlling disease that occurs in each
member state. We are aware of the dramatic exposure we have to
disease imported from countries outside the EU where most of our
notifiable diseases are rife. If we cannot keep live humans out
of the country how on earth can we have confidence that dead meat
is not coming in illegally. There appears to be no control at
all. On a recent trip to Australia we were at least challenged
to write whether we had been near farm animals. Of course we could
lie but at least a pretty formidable person stood in front of
us and asked the question. No such challenge was made to us on
our return to the UK. We used to be an island that was reasonably
secure but no longer.
We have many other expenses imposed upon us
that are not experienced by all our competitors in the rest of
the world; climate change levy, sick pay, cost of disposal of
fallen stock to name but a few.
We are not asking for a subsidy but we expect
the opportunity to compete fairly with the rest of World Agriculture
and that our customers are given the opportunity to buy our welfare
friendly additive free chicken clearly marked if they so wish.
Creedy Carver
13 April 2003
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