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Co-operatives

Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is considering to encourage the formation of co-operatives for the purposes of tier-two payments. [217793]

Alun Michael: I assume that the hon. Member is referring to the new Environmental Stewardship Scheme that is due to be introduced shortly.

Under the second tier of the scheme, known as higher level stewardship, we will be offering a supplementary payment for group applications. This recognises the extra costs involved in facilitating communal agreements, for example on areas of common land or shared grazing, or on areas under more than one ownership that need to be managed collectively for resource protection, inter-tidal flood management or wetland management.

Full details of the Environmental Stewardship Scheme will be published later this week.

Date-based Export Scheme

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects the Date Based Export Scheme to be lifted. [218367]

Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 25 February 2005]: Before beef export restrictions can be eased, there will need to be a further inspection visit from the EU's Food and Veterinary Office to check our BSE controls and our testing arrangements, a proposal from the European Commission to amend EU legislation, and agreement by other EU member states. Changes in export restrictions for beef from cattle born on or after 1 August 1996 are not expected before late 2005.

Energy Saving Trust

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will publish on its website the annual accounts of the Energy
 
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Saving Trust since its inception, including (a) incoming revenue from all sources and (b) expenditure on specific programmes; [217215]

(2) what the expenditure of the Energy Saving Trust on external consultants was in the last year for which figures are available; [217216]

(3) what assessment has been made of the impact of the Energy Saving Trust in terms of annual carbon savings. [217219]

Margaret Beckett: The Energy Saving Trust is an independent company grant funded by Government. The trust publishes an annual report on its website www.est.org.uk. As a private company expenditure on contracts held with external consultants is a matter for the Energy Saving Trust Board.

The Energy Saving Trust's assessment of the impact of its programmes, including annual carbon savings, is published in its annual report, available on its website. All current climate change policies are being evaluated under the Climate Change Programme Review.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Management Committees of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Milk and Milk Products met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217849]

Alun Michael: The Management Committee of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Milk and Milk Products met:

All but one of the meetings were held in Brussels. The meeting of 14 October 2004 held during the Dutch presidency took place in The Hague.

The UK was represented by officials from Defra's Milk Branch, with representatives from the Department of Agriculture in Northern Ireland and the Rural Payments Agency attending occasionally when subjects of particular interest were discussed.

At the meetings the UK has supported the measures taken by the Commission to balance Community milk and milk product markets while taking budgetary considerations into account.

A series of Command Papers on prospects for the EU—Cm6174 laid in April 2004, Cm6310 laid in September 2004 and Cm6450 laid in February 2005, which cover the periods of the above presidencies, are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at: www.fco.gov.uk/commandpapers.
 
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Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Management Committees of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Beef and Veal met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217850]

Alun Michael: The Management Committee of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Beef and Veal met:

All of the meetings were held in Brussels. The UK were represented by officials from the appropriate division of Defra. The number of representatives for each meeting is shown in brackets above.

A series of Command Papers on prospects for the EU—Cm6174 laid in April 2004, Cm6310 laid in September 2004 and Cm6450 laid in February 2005, which cover the periods of the above presidencies, are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at: www.fco.gov.uk/commandpapers.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Management Committees of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Sheep and Goats met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217851]

Alun Michael: The Management Committee of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Sheep and Goats met:

All meetings were held in Brussels. The UK were represented by officials from the appropriate division of Defra. The number of representatives for each meeting is shown in brackets above.

A series of Command Papers on prospects for the EU—Cm6174 laid in April 2004, Cm6310 laid in September 2004 and Cm6450 laid in February 2005, which cover the periods of the above presidencies, are available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at: www.fco.gov.uk/commandpapers.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Management Committees of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for
 
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Pigmeat met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217852]

Alun Michael: The Management Committee of the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets for Pigmeat met:

All meetings were held in Brussels. The UK was represented by officials from Defra's Livestock Products Division (Pigs branch), and experts were from the Meat and Livestock Commission. The number of representatives for each meeting is outlined above.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Joint Meetings of Management and/or regulatory Committees in the field of agriculture—promotion of agricultural products met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [217870]

Alun Michael: The Joint Management Committee for the Promotion of Agricultural Products met on the following dates:

(a) During the Italian presidency:

All meetings took place in Brussels and officials from Defra attended.

(b) During the Irish presidency:

All meetings took place in Brussels and officials from Defra attended. An official from the Rural Payments Agency also attended the meetings marked with an asterisk.

(c) During the Dutch presidency:

All meetings took place in Brussels and officials from Defra attended. An official from the Rural Payments Agency also attended the meetings marked with an asterisk.
 
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The Joint Committee for the Promotion of Agricultural Products was established in September 2000 following the introduction of Council Regulation (EC) 2702/1999 for the promotion of agricultural products in third countries. Council Regulation (EC) 2826/2000 which covers the promotion of agricultural products in the internal markets was introduced shortly afterwards. The regulations provide a framework for promoting Community agricultural produce through activities such as trade fairs, market research, advertising, information campaigns and fact finding visits.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch presidency of the EU the Committee (i) for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress and implementation of the Directives on waste, (ii) on the Directive on packaging and packaging waste and (iii)for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the Directive on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture met; when and where these meetings took place; which UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement. [218313]

Mr. Morley: The Technical Adaptation Committee (TAC) for the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (ROHS) Directives met on the following 12 occasions: During the Italian presidency (from July to December 2003) 11 July, 16 September, 26 November, 17 December, during the Irish presidency (from January to June 2004) 27 January, 3 March, 17 March, 10 June, 28 June and during the Dutch presidency (from July to December 2004) 20 July, 22 October, 10 December. UK experts from Defra and DTI were present and a detailed summary of these discussions, including unofficial meeting notes, may be found on the internet at the following website: http://www.dti.gov.uk/sustainability/weee/index.htm

TAC meetings for Packaging and Packaging Waste took place in Brussels during the Italian presidency on 30 October 2003 and included two UK experts, both from DTI. On 16 April 2004 a second meeting was held which included UK experts from both of DTI and Defra.

There were no TAC meetings held in relation to End of Life Vehicles (ELVs) during the Italian presidency. During the Irish presidency two meetings were held on 14 January and 10 June 2004. During the Dutch presidency there was a single meeting held on 2 December 2004. In these instances a DTI official represented the UK.

There were no meetings of the TAC on the sewage sludge Directive during the Italian, Irish or Dutch presidencies.

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