§ MR. LAURENCE HARDY (Kent, Ashford)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether in view of the proclamation of two more States in the United States as infected with foot-and-mouth disease, he can state the policy of the Board with regard to this condition of affairs; and whether the Board does not consider that the time has come to prohibit all importations of live stock from the United States, even for slaughter at the port of entry.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) The Board are carrying out their statutory obligations in regard to the outbreak of foot-and mouth disease in America. They are satisfied that the very stringent measures adopted by the Federal Government of the United States of America for stamping out and preventing the spread of the disease are sufficient to render the action suggested by the hon. Member unnecessary at the present time.