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Written Answers to Questions
Tuesday 19 October 2004
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS
Animal By-Products Regulation
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Hove district council vehicles, which removed the carcases from the recent Labour Party Conference, met the vehicle specifications laid down in the Animal By-Products Regulation. [190794]
Mr. Bradshaw: It is the Department's understanding that the vehicles used met with the vehicle specifications laid down in the Animal By-Products Regulations. This was achieved through the use of tarpaulins to cover and contain the carcases and the use of absorbent granules to soak up any leakage.
Animal Welfare
Mr Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to other EU member states concerning animal welfare standards in live animal transport; and if she will make a statement. [190005]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Government will raise specific issues with EU member states and candidate member states whenever necessary. The UK's concern for high enforcement standards was made very clear earlier this year during discussion of proposals for a new regulation on animal welfare during transport. We welcome the news that the Dutch Presidency has brought the EU proposals on welfare on transport back to member states for discussion.
Archaeological Sites
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what protection is afforded to sites of archaeological interest from being (a) built on and (b) farmed inappropriately. [191150]
Mr. Caborn: I have been asked to reply.
Protection for such activities is afforded under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. In addition potential developers are required to follow guidelines issued in the Planning Policy Guidance Note 16.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently reviewing its legislation for Heritage Protection.
Broiler Chickens
Mr. Hancock:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to bring forward legislation to improve the welfare of broiler chickens, with particular regard to (a) lower
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stocking densities, (b) longer periods of darkness to allow for rest and (c) environmental enrichment to allow for natural behaviour; and if she will make a statement. [190485]
Mr. Bradshaw: General standards for the welfare of all farm animals are laid down on an EU basis and apply to broiler chickens. Additional standards of best practice are set out in the Code of Recommendations for Meat Chickens. Any legislation setting standards for the welfare of meat chickens should be applied on an EU basis to ensure a level playing field. The European Commission expects to issue proposals for such standards in the near future.
Drainage Regulations
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what definition her Department uses of the phrase floors laid to facilitate the drainage of liquids, used in Regulation 1774/2002 and SI 2003 No.1482. [190724]
Mr. Bradshaw: To comply with this requirement, we would expect floors to be constructed from an impervious material with proper falls to drains to ensure that washing water and effluent do not form puddles in the area.
Fallen Stock
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Animal By-Products Regulation with respect to the collection of fallen stock. [190721]
Mr. Bradshaw: In all cases, animal by-products (including fallen stock) must be collected/transported in accordance with Annex II of Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002, the 'Animal By-Products Regulation'. This requires animal by-products to be transported either in sealed, new packaging or in covered, leak-proof containers or vehicles. The vehicle, container or packaging must also be labelled in accordance with Annex II and accompanied by the required documentation.
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many establishments, which previously received and processed fallen stock, are no longer able to do so because of her Department's enforcement of the EU Animal By-Products Regulation. [190723]
Mr. Bradshaw: Although information regarding the location of fallen stock collection and processing premises is available, this is not kept in a format which would allow their relationship to previous approvals to be ascertained.
As of 15 October 2004, 1,735 establishments have sought approval under the Regulation, 54 have been rejected, 1,393 have been approved and 288 are awaiting assessment by the State Veterinary Service as to whether or not an approval can be issued.
Note:
Not all of the animal by-product premises referred to receive and/or process fallen stock.
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Farm Retail Prices
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what and how many organisations her Department (a) approached and (b) tendered to undertake the study investigation of the determinants of farm retail price spread, published in July. [190126]
Alun Michael: Defra invited six organisations with relevant expertise in economic research to tender for the contract to undertake the study.
Three of the invited organisations submitted written tender documents to Defra.
Hunting Bill
Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial or other assistance will be offered by the Government to the owners of greyhounds affected by an immediate ban on hare coursing in England and Wales under the Hunting Bill. [189748]
Alun Michael: The Government is not providing financial compensation to accompany this Bill because nobody is being deprived of their property as a result of it. Dogs and other property currently used for hare coursing events can continue to be used for other legal purposes. However, the Government recognises that the Bill will affect the owners of dogs that currently engage in hunting and coursing and is ready to explore ways in which they might be assisted to avoid the unnecessary destruction of healthy animals. The Government is very grateful for the RSPCA's offer to help re-home dogs no longer wanted as a result of this Bill. The RSPCA has considerable previous experience in successfully re-homing retired racing greyhounds.
Ministerial Meetings
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she will next meet Commissioner Byrne. [190710]
Margaret Beckett: I meet Commissioner Byrne and other Commissioners whose portfolios cover Defra responsibilities on a regular basis.
Organic Farming
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs why she has sought a derogation from the EU directive on the size of flocks for the production of organic chicken and eggs. [191096]
Mr. Bradshaw: The derogation to which you are referring to is the provision within Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 which permits stocking densities and flock sizes higher than normally permitted, in respect of livestock producing holdings, for buildings constructed before 24 August 1999, until 31 December 2010.
The Compendium of UK Standards, however, only permitted the derogation until 25 August 2005, which would mean UK poultry producers would be disadvantaged compared with their counterparts in other member states. My Department reviewed the effect of maintaining the date at 2005 for the UK and
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sought the views of the organic sector, retailers and ACOS, Defra's Advisory Committee on Organic Standards.
After careful consideration of all the representations received and taking account of the interests of the organic poultry sector as a whole, I decided that organic poultry producers should be allowed to continue to benefit from the derogation until 31 December 2010, which puts UK producers on an even footing with those in the rest of the European Union.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of (a) future demand for organic food in the UK and (b) the capacity of UK organic farms to supply that demand. [190087]
Mr. Bradshaw: The following assessments, provided in connection with the publication of the "Action plan to develop organic food and farming in England" are particularly relevant:
England's Organic Sector Prospects for Growth (Stopes, July 2002) which can be viewed at http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/organic/actionplan/prospects.htm
And
Economic Evaluation of the Organic Farming Scheme (Centre for Rural Economics Research, University of Cambridge, May 2002) which can be viewed at http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/Organic/actionplan/eco-evaluation.htm
These documents consider the UK as well as England.
Evidence Assessment to Inform the Review of the Organic farming Scheme (ADAS Consulting Limited and the University of Reading, September 2003) which can be viewed at http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/evaluation/ofs/default.asp
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of (a) the potential of the organic farming industry in the UK and (b) the support needed from Government to fulfil its potential. [190088]
Mr. Bradshaw: The report "Action plan to develop organic food and farming in England—Two Years On, which I launched on 2 August this year, contains an analysis of the market for organic food. The document expects continued growth in sales of organic food. It notes that the area farmed organically in the UK has grown from 30,000 ha in 1993 to 696,000 in 2004. This is an expansion of over 23 times.
The level of UK demand for organic food met by UK producers has increased over the last two years from 30 per cent. to 44 per cent., but the report recognises a target of 70 per cent. to be met from UK production by 2010. Our support for organic farming includes enhancements introduced last year to the English Organic Farming scheme to allow farmers who have completed organic conversion to receive payments in return for observing environmental conditions and a new rate of aid for conversion for organic top fruit production (apples, pears etc). For the longer term support for organic farming will be through a specific strand in the Agri—Environment Scheme.
Our review of the Organic Farming Scheme was based on a substantial evidence exercise "Evidence Assessment to Inform the Review of the Organic
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farming Scheme" (ADAS Consulting Limited and the University of Reading, September 2003). This report can be viewed at http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/evaluation/ofs/default.asp
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department has spent on the promotion of organic crops and foods in the United Kingdom in each of the past 10 years. [190089]
Mr. Bradshaw: We do not have a budget specifically for the generic promotion of organic food and crops. However, the Rural Enterprise Scheme, which forms part of the England Rural Development Programme, can provide assistance towards good value and sustainable projects that help market organic and other quality agricultural products. Since the launch of the scheme in October 2000, the scheme's marketing measure has provided the funding for promoting organic produce as shown in the following table.
| Calendar Year | The Rural Enterprise Scheme—approximate value of projects involving the marketing of organic products (£000) |
|---|---|
| 2002 | 144 |
| 2003 | 258 |
| 2004 | 447 |
In addition, Defra approved and supported an application by the Soil Association for EU funds to promote the organic sector. The application was successful and the Soil Association has secured EU funding of £296,060 under the EC Regulations for the Promotion of Agricultural Products (EC) 2826/2000. The Soil Association have joined with the Italian body AIAB to deliver the promotion campaign, which will run for three years from January 2004.
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much her Department has spent on independent research into organic crops and food in each year since 1994. [190090]
Mr. Bradshaw: The total committed by Defra to its Organic Farming research projects since the start of the Organic Farming R and D Programme in 1991 is £19,059,000. The committed spending from this budget on independent research into organic crops and food per financial year since 1994 amounts to £17,242,000 as follows:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| 1994–95 | 867,000 |
| 1995–96 | 931,000 |
| 1996–97 | 1,116,000 |
| 1997–98 | 908,000 |
| 1998–99 | 1,481,000 |
| 1999–2000 | 2,039,000 |
| 2000–01 | 2,087,000 |
| 2001–02 | 2,127,000 |
| 2002–03 | 1,809,000 |
| 2003–04 | 1,927,000 |
| 2004–05 | (1)1,950,000 |
(1) provisional figure
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Defra funds research worth about £40 million per year to support sustainable development of the farming and food sector. In addition to research specific to organic farming, much of this general farm research has direct relevance to the organic sector.
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