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Calf Passport Scheme

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the consequences will be for farmers who fail to submit details to the calf passport scheme by the specified deadline; and approximately how many cattle have been excluded. [191093]

Alun Michael: A farmer must apply for a calf passport within 27 days of the animal's birth. An application received after this time will be refused. However, a farmer has the right to appeal against the decision to refuse a passport if he thinks there are special or extenuating circumstances. A successful appeal would lead to the issue of a passport.

An animal refused a passport is still registered onto the national cattle database and may live out its life on the farm it is on. If it is female and has calves, these can be registered in the usual way. If the animal is a dairy cow, its milk may be sold as normal. However, the animal may not be moved to other premises and it may not enter the food chain at the end of its life. If the keeper does not wish to keep the calf, it may be moved under licence to a knackers yard or hunt kennel for destruction.

Since the new rules came into effect at the end of November last year, 2,678,308 new animals have been registered onto the national cattle database. Of these, 29,142 were registered after the deadline. So far 5,924 of these have received passports after successful appeals.
 
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Chief Scientific Adviser

Mr. Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Chief Scientific Adviser to her Department last met his counterpart at the Department of Defense in Washington DC; and what was discussed. [191746]

Alun Michael: It is difficult to understand what is meant by "counterpart" in this question. If the question is meant to refer to possible contacts between Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Howard Dalton FRS, and his counterpart at the US Department of Defense, I can confirm that no meeting has taken place in Washington DC or elsewhere.

Combined Heat and Power

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department has taken in 2004 to encourage take-up of combined heat and power. [190378]

Mr. Morley: The UK strategy for Combined Heat and Power, published in April, brought together the full range of support measures Government has introduced. We made a commitment during the passage of the Energy Bill to consider how CHP is treated in the context of the renewables obligation, during the obligation review in 2005–06. In August the revised guidance for power station developers was published for public consultation by ourselves and DTI. Ministers and industry are currently engaged in dialogue concerning the implementation of the CHP Strategy.

Countryside and Rights of Way Act

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will make a statement on progress on the mapping exercise under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 in (a) Gloucestershire and (b) England; [189654]

(2) what the procedures are under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 for the operation of the mapping exercise in relation to (a) the original maps, (b) subsequent recommendations on access by members of the public and (c) appeals against such recommendations by landowners, with particular reference to (i) access to information and (ii) timescales; [189655]

(3) what the reasons were for allowing recommendations made by members of the general public to the original mapping exercise undertaken under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to be submitted anonymously; and what the arrangements were for landowners to respond to these. [189656]

Alun Michael: The Act requires the Countryside Agency to produce maps in three stages: first by draft map, second the provisional map and finally the conclusive map of open country (mountain, moor, heath and down) and registered common land in England. Following the issue of a draft map a period of three months is allowed for anyone to make representations to the agency if they think land was incorrectly mapped, or wrongly left off. The agency take all valid representations into consideration before issuing the provisional map. After the issue of a provisional map there is a three-month period during
 
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which anyone with a legal interest in land can exercise a formal right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, which determines appeals on behalf of the Secretary of State. Once appeals have been determined, the agency publishes a conclusive map.

The Countryside Agency undertook an extensive programme to inform the public and landowners about the mapping process. Notices were placed in regional papers to inform the public of the issue of the draft and provisional maps. Press releases were issued to national and regional newspapers. A series of road-show events took place throughout each mapping region following the issue of the draft maps. The draft and provisional maps were sent to an office of every local authority (county, district, unitary, and the National Park Authority where appropriate) and selected libraries. All parish councils were supplied with both a draft and a provisional map covering their parish. Both local authority offices and parish councils were contacted about their functions under the Act, and were provided with a range of leaflets and distribution material for the purposes of the consultation.

The representations to the Countryside Agency on draft maps had to be made either on a paper or electronic version of a comments form provided by the agency, or in a written form which included all the elements of the comment form that had to be completed. This included the name and address of the person submitting the comment. The agency did not accept anonymous representations. Details of those who had commented on a specific parcel of land were provided to landowners who submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

For the purposes of the mapping exercise under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, South Gloucestershire falls into area 3 (Central Southern) for which the conclusive map was published on 28 September. The rest of Gloucestershire falls into area 7 (West) for which the provisional map was issued on 20 May and the conclusive map will be issued in due course.

The current status of the mapping process in England is:

Area	Status
Area 1—South East	Conclusive map published 4 May 2004
Area 2—Lower North West	Conclusive map published 2 June 2004
Area 3—Central Southern	Conclusive map published 28 September 2004
Area 4—Upper North West	Provisional map published 19 August 2003
Area 5—North East	Provisional map published 20 November 2003
Area 6—South West	Provisional map published 4 March 2004
Area 7—West	Provisional map published 20 May 2004
Area 8—East	Provisional map published 7 June 2004

Fisheries

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the (a) number, (b) frequency and (c) extent of non-UK fishing activity within the UK 12 mile zone during each year since satellite transponder or other tracking and recording methods were introduced. [189526]

 
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Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 11 October 2004]: Fishing activity within six miles of the UK coastline is restricted to UK vessels only. From six to 12 miles, access by foreign vessels is based on historical fishing rights of the individual Member State, subject to quota and other controls.

Since the introduction in 2000 of satellite monitoring of vessels over 24 metres no special assessment has been made of non-UK fishing activity within the 0 to 12 mile limit. This area is, of course, the subject of day to day monitoring by the relevant enforcement authorities in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for their respective interests.

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Government will provide a full response to the Strategy Unit report on the future of the United Kingdom's fishing industry. [190628]

Mr. Bradshaw: The Government are aiming to respond to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit report, "Net Benefits", in spring 2005. The fisheries departments in the UK are currently conducting an extensive engagement with stakeholders on the way forward, and this will influence the nature of the responses.

Egg Imports

Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps have been taken by her Department and its agencies over the last three years to ensure that eggs imported into the United Kingdom from (a) Spain and (b) other EU countries are free from salmonella. [192804]

Alun Michael: Eggs are a raw product and are not required to be Salmonella free. Although the levels of contamination of UK produced eggs are now very low, occasional eggs may still be contaminated with salmonella, but, evidence from the testing of eggs associated with premises where outbreaks have occurred, suggests that levels of contamination of Spanish eggs in the UK are greater than those in UK produced eggs, and that this is resulting in outbreaks of Salmonella. Food Standards Agency officials have been in regular contact with Spanish and Commission colleagues on this issue since 2002.

Those outbreaks where a direct link has been made between Salmonella in cases and in eggs supplied to the caterer have been notified to the European Commission via the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) system. This enables the Spanish authorities to instigate follow-up investigations and take control measures on the farms supplying those eggs. Because eggs have often been used up before outbreaks are identified and investigated, it has not been possible to provide this type of information for many of the outbreaks where Spanish eggs are suspected to be the source.

In order to minimise Salmonella contamination of eggs, it is necessary both to control Salmonella in laying flocks and ensure that eggs are subsequently handled appropriately. The new EU Zoonoses Directive requires member states to introduce Salmonella control programmes for laying flocks. The Spanish authorities
 
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have drawn up a control programme which FSA and Defra officials will be discussing with them on 21 October 2004.

As part of the Directive, a one year EU wide baseline study of the prevalence of Salmonella in laying hens will be undertaken, beginning in October 2004. Targets for reduction will then be introduced which all member states will have to comply with. This survey will also enable us to compare UK flock contamination levels with those in other member states.

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