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Agriculture: Sectors of Interest

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer asked Her Majesty's Government:

Given that the report by Sir Don Curry, Sustainable Food and Farming, indicated that there are different bodies of work requiring different approaches, whether the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has working definitions of the different sectors of interest; and if so, what they are.[HL4019]

Lord Whitty: The Government's Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food is divided into 10 workstreams for the purpose of managing the programme of implementation. These are: food chain, agri-environment, environmental protection, better regulation and whole farm approach, investing in the future, new technology and new markets, consumer health needs, animal health and welfare, financial issues, and global context.

Dichlorvos

Lord Lucas asked Her Majesty's Government:

With reference to the suspension on 19 April 2002 of a range of insecticides containing dichlorvos—

(a) what scientific, peer-reviewed evidence was used by the Advisory Committee on Pesticides in formulating the conclusion that dichlorvos might be genotoxic;

(b) what evidence has subsequently become available to support or oppose this conclusion;

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(c) what research is under way to establish the truth or otherwise of this conclusion; and

(d) what research or data gathering they are undertaking to monitor the incidence of clothes moth infestation in England.[HL4047]

Lord Whitty: Dichlorvos was assessed as a part of the UK's review of anticholinesterase compounds. The UK approval holder submitted data in support of the review, including a number of laboratory studies that identified potential mutagenic effects from the use of pesticides containing dichlorvos. These included studies concerning direct effects on DNA, and on chromosome structure and number.

Summaries of the data were submitted to the Advisory Committee on Pesticides. The committee concluded, with the assistance of advice from the Committee on Mutagenicity, that dichlorvos should be regarded as an in-vivo mutagen at the site of contact, and that no threshold could be assumed for the mutagenic and carcinogenic effects of dichlorvos.

Ministers' decision to suspend all dichlorvos approvals was taken on a precautionary basis in the light of the committees' advice. These suspensions will continue until such time as the approval holders submit further data providing reassurances regarding the mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of dichlorvos.

There is no ongoing government research or investigations into the incidence of clothes moth infestations in England.

Cattle Herds with Reactors

Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will update the graph on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website which shows "percentage of all cattle herds with reactors", so that it shows figures for 1962–2002 instead of 1962–1998; and[HL4100]

Why the graph on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website, "percentage of all cattle herds with reactors" does not show figures beyond 1998.[HL4101]

Lord Whitty: As part of our response to the seventh report of Session 2002–03 by the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on badgers and bovine TB, the Government undertook to review the pages of the TB webpages of Defra's internet site. This will include decisions about whether to update or replace existing pages which have fallen behind or become obsolete. The Government's response was published by the committee on 24 June as the eighth special report of Session 2002–03.

The graph showing "percentage of all cattle herds with reactors (confirmed and unconfirmed) 1962–98" was intended as a "snapshot" update of a graph shown in the Krebs report. We will consider how useful it would be to update the information as part of the overall review of the webpages.

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Shellfish Sampling: Weymouth Laboratory

Baroness Byford asked Her Majestry's Government:

When testing facilities at the government laboratory in Weymouth will be improved to match those used in Holland and France, which no longer rely on the most probable number system for sampling shellfish waters.[HL4102]

Lord Whitty: The Weymouth laboratory of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) is designated under the Shellfish Hygiene Directive (91/492/EEC) as the community reference laboratory for monitoring bacteriological and viral contamination of bivalve molluscs and as the national reference laboratory for the United Kingdom.

In this capacity, the laboratory advises on use of the most probable number (MPN) procedure, but does not undertake routine testing of shellfish samples for the purpose of the classification of shellfish harvesting areas in the UK. In England and Wales this is undertaken by local laboratories of the Health Protection Agency and hospital trusts, in Scotland by FRS Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, and in Northern Ireland by the Public Health Laboratory at Belfast City Hospital.

The Shellfish Hygiene Directive specifies the use of a five-tube three-dilution MPN procedure for the

8 Sept 2003 : Column WA88

testing of shellfish samples for classification of production areas. In France, official laboratories use both a five-tube three-dilution MPN procedure and an alternative semi-automated procedure. The latter is calibrated and validated against the MPN test. The method currently in use in Holland does not appear to conform to the requirements of the directive.

Shellfish waters are also sampled under the Shellfish Waters Directive (79/923/EEC) and the associated UK regulations. In England and Wales, this is the responsibility of the Environment Agency, in Scotland of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and in Northern Ireland of the Department of the Environment. CEFAS does not undertake any responsibilities or practical work in relation to the testing of samples taken for this purpose.

BSE

Lord Marlesford asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish a table, in the same format as their Written Answer of 22 May 2002 (WA 104) showing the number of cases of BSE confirmed each week in Britain during the calendar years 2002 and 2003 to date, together with the moving annual total of cases for each 52-week period.[HL4140]

Lord Whitty:

The number of Active and Passive Surveillance cases of BSE confirmed in Great Britain during each week of 2002 and in the current year to 18 July and the moving annual totals of "confirmed" and "reported" cases for each 52-week period.



2002
Week No	Passive Surveillance		Active Surveillance		Reported(2)
	Number confirmed each week	Running 52 week total	Number confirmed each week	Running 52 week total	Running 52 week total
1	0	751	0	261	1207
2	19	734	0	259	1209
3	22	742	0	259	1208
4	12	742	51	310	1200
5	2	733	21	331	1201
6	25	747	29	359	1183
7	15	731	30	385	1182
8	9	728	7	390	1179
9	16	732	15	403	1171
10	10	732	4	406	1157
11	14	740	31	436	1147
12	19	746	0	435	1149
13	12	753	34	469	1142
14	0	734	0	467	1148
15	26	750	13	477	1150
16	1	747	30	505	1151
17	20	754	0	505	1157
18	16	751	13	518	1164
19	7	745	8	523	1157
20	15	745	1	523	1156
21	7	736	12	535	1153
22	16	737	9	544	1149
23	0	728	1	545	1130
24	17	731	22	565	1135
25	8	724	5	570	1134
26	5	716	16	586	1136
27	0	699	0	586	1136
28	7	689	19	604	1120
29	1	680	0	604	1103
30	4	661	11	615	1096
31	4	658	7	622	1078
32	22	669	16	633	1078
33	9	642	9	642	1054
34	7	641	10	638	1049
35	6	643	5	637	1046
36	3	629	8	637	1033
37	8	626	4	741	1029
38	7	623	5	627	1016
39	7	600	19	640	998
40	11	578	7	637	978
41	6	572	6	621	970
42	8	550	11	624	951
43	9	544	2	601	940
44	4	516	7	602	933
45	13	517	18	605	939
46	5	513	2	582	924
47	13	515	12	591	906
48	22	536	23	586	899
49	3	514	31	611	893
50	11	514	6	601	883
51	5	507	9	598	879
52	1	508	0	598	876

(2) Reported—number of cases placed under restriction during the period. Refers only to passive surveillance cases.

8 Sept 2003 : Column WA89

8 Sept 2003 : Column WA89

2003

	Passive Surveillance		Active Surveillance		Reported
Week No	Number confirmed each week	Running 52 week total	Number confirmed each week	Running 52 week total	Running 52 week total
1	0	508	0	598	878
2	7	496	15	613	865
3	2	476	10	623	851
4	2	466	28	600	844
5	4	468	7	586	830
6	5	448	7	564	828
7	6	439	4	538	817
8	5	435	37	568	795
9	6	425	5	558	784
10	3	418	13	567	777
11	5	409	15	551	776
12	2	392	13	564	767
13	8	388	13	543	764
14	3	391	2	545	751
15	2	367	12	544	734
16	0	366	5	519	717
17	7	353	16	535	702
18	0	337	0	522	681
19	8	338	16	530	678
20	1	324	0	529	664
21	6	323	22	539	652
22	3	310	2	532	642
23	5	315	8	539	648
24	0	298	7	524	637
25	4	294	0	519	626
26	2	291	17	520	612
27	5	296	1	521	605
28	4	293	10	512	599
29	2	294	2	514	594

8 Sept 2003 : Column WA90

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