§ MR. BOWERMANTo ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if he is aware that the prohibition to export live animals from certain Argentine ports has been removed, and that Argentine cattle and sheep will be again landed at Antwerp for slaughter, that the hides and skins in a raw state, as well as the meat, will be shipped to English markets, and that the vessels employed in this trade will frequently proceed direct to British ports to discharge the remainder of their cargo or to reload; and if he can state what steps will be taken to prevent the introduction into this country of cattle diseases through the importation of the hides and skins and through the landing of persons and cargo from off the vessels on to British soil.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) We have been informed of the removal of the prohibition against the exportation of live animals from Argentina. The propriety of taking further measures to prevent the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease by indirect agencies into this country from Antwerp has frequently been considered; but we are satisfied that the regulations of the Belgian Government with regard to the disinfection of the vessels and the sanitary precautions taken by them with regard to diseased or suspected cargoes afford a sufficient safeguard.