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EU (Co-existence Regimes)

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which EU member states have a co-existence regime in place; and if she will make a statement. [188309]

Mr. Morley: The Danish Government have adopted primary, or framework, legislation to set out their broad approach on rules for the co-existence of GM and non-GM crops. In Germany, framework legislation has been proposed but not yet adopted. In the UK, we have initiated our co-existence consultation process with a series of preliminary workshop meetings. The purpose of these is to gather information before we issue a written consultation package. Our aim is to have a co-existence regime in place before GM crops are grown commercially in the UK.

European Chemicals Agency

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff she estimates will be employed by the proposed European Chemicals Agency under the REACH proposals. [189033]

Alun Michael: The size and composition of the proposed European Chemicals Agency (to be located in Helsinki, Finland) will depend very much on the outcome of the current EU negotiations on REACH and is, therefore, difficult to estimate. Bearing this in mind, the Finnish Government have estimated that approximately 200 people from all over the EU will be employed by the Agency.

The Government support the creation of a European Chemicals Agency. However, we do not expect the Agency to be a large organisation as we expect full use to be made of the expertise that lies with member states. The Government considers that the size of the Agency must be appropriate to secure the confidence of stakeholders and ensure that REACH is operated in a transparent, consistent and harmonised way across the EU.
 
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European Habitats Directive

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the complaint made to the European Commission about alleged contravention of the European Habitats Directive by the Irish Government in relation to the salmon drift net fishery; and what assessment she has made of the impact of the alleged contravention on salmon stocks. [189139]

Mr. Bradshaw: Since the UK Government are not party to this complaint we are not aware of how matters stand between the European Commission and the Irish Government in relation to it.

Tagging studies suggest that the Irish Salmon Drift Net Fishery takes less than 1 per cent. of salmon returning to rivers in the north-east of England, but this proportion is greater for stocks in Wales and the west of England, possibly increasing to around 10 per cent. for some rivers in the south and south-west.

Government take every opportunity to press the Irish to phase out this fishery.

Farm Prices

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the Milk Development Council Report, "Dairy Supply Chain Margins 2003–04"; and whether she has accepted the key findings in respect of farm gate and retail price movements and differentials. [189080]

Alun Michael: The lack of transparency regarding prices and margins in the dairy supply chain was an issue highlighted in the recent EFRA committee report on milk pricing. We are still considering the Milk Development Council report and assessing the contribution its recommendations could make to addressing these issues.

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reasons London Economics was commissioned to produce a report on the impact of supermarkets on farm gate prices; and how much this report cost her Department. [189081]

Alun Michael: Defra commissioned this research in order to examine the evidence for a decline in the share of the retail price of food received by farmers and to determine the factors that could account for this. Special attention was to be given to the possible influence of supermarkets. The study was to place the UK experience within the context of other EU member states.

The report was commissioned at the time when the Competition Commission was investigating four grocery multiples bidding for Safeway and in a wider context of concerns about the declining share of farm prices as a proportion of retail spending on food.

The selection of London Economics was the result of a competitive process, based on an invitation to a number of consultancies and academics to submit proposals for this project. London Economics was paid £96,375, excluding VAT, for the report.
 
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Farmed Ducks

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to introduce greater control of intensively farmed ducks; and if she will make a statement. [188307]

Mr. Bradshaw: The welfare of ducks is protected by the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968, which makes it an offence to cause unnecessary pain or unnecessary distress. More detailed standards are laid down in the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 1870). These regulations include specific requirements on inspections, record keeping, freedom of movement, buildings and equipment and feed and water.

There is also a specific Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Ducks. Flock-keepers are required by law to have access to, and be familiar with this code, which encourages all those who care for ducks to adopt the highest standards of husbandry.

We are currently revising the duck welfare code and a three month public consultation ended on 10 September.

Fisheries

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the percentage of (a) plaice, (b) cod, (c) dab, (d) flounder, (e) herring, (f) haddock, (g) skate and (h) huss (i) landed in British ports and (ii) in the North Sea which are diseased. [186726]

Mr. Bradshaw: Fish with obvious signs of disease are not generally landed because they would not be marketable. Data on landings of diseased fish are therefore not collected. However, any unusual disease trends in fish catches and landings would be noticed by the industry and reported to Defra via the Sea Fisheries Inspectorate.

Defra undertakes a regular programme of disease surveillance of fish stocks in the North Sea, although sample sites may not necessarily be in areas of commercial fishing activity. The work is carried out by the CEFAS, Weymouth Laboratory and the programme follows standardised methodologies, which have been agreed internationally by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) for sampling and reporting fish diseases.

The percentage of cod, plaice, herring, haddock and flounder with obvious disease signs is very low, usually less than 1 per cent. Dab are unusually susceptible to diseases and in localised areas the prevalence may be up to 10—20 per cent. with lower levels in the northern North Sea. Up to 40 per cent. of dab in some areas such as West Dogger Bank exhibit abnormal pigmentation but it is not known whether this is indicative of disease as no causative agent has been found. Studies are also being carried out on liver nodules (tumours) in dab and these indicate that the condition is present in fish in most areas but with a higher incidence of up to 14 per cent. at Flamborough and West Dogger. Insufficient number of skate and huss are caught during the monitoring programme to allow meaningful disease assessment to be made.
 
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Gangmasters (Licensing) Act

Mr. Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with representatives of the farming industry about the impact of the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 on (a) machinery co-operatives, (b) machinery rings and (c) voluntary arrangements between farmers which involve the sharing of employees' time. [189120]

Alun Michael: The definition of a gangmaster in the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 has been drafted as widely as possible to avoid creating loopholes which might be exploited by unscrupulous gangmasters. The licensing requirements in the Act would apply to the supply of labour with machinery or associated with the supply of services by a contractor, however the Act makes provision for the Secretary of State to exclude specific activities from the licensing arrangements through secondary legislation. This flexible approach will ensure licensing applies where there is a risk that gang workers will be exploited while avoiding the imposition of unnecessary burdens on bona fide farming arrangements where the risk of exploitation is minimal.

When the Gangmasters (Licensing) Bill was being debated I confirmed that the Government would bring forward regulations to exempt from the licensing arrangements farming operations which do not involve the supply of gang labour. I also confirmed that the Government would consult widely on the scope of these exclusions.

This process has started and a working group involving all key stakeholders has been brought together to work with us on this. The working group met for the first time on 2 August 2004 and will continue to meet during the autumn. A full draft of the Exclusions Regulations will be made available for comment later in the year. This will give everyone with an interest an opportunity to comment.

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