§ MR. T. DAVIES (Fulham)I beg to ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture whether the Board are-opposed to the establishment of a foreign animals wharf at Alderney, on account of the danger of introduction of disease into Great Britain and of the practical evidences of the insufficiency of any system of quarantine to prevent its-introduction into this country; whether as regards a business which is now carried on at Antwerp, similar in all respects to that proposed in Alderney, the Board of Agriculture is satisfied that the regulations of the Belgian Government and the sanitary precautions taken by them afford a sufficient safeguard against any danger of infection to British cattle; and why the regulations and precautions, satisfactory when carried out by a foreign Government, would be insufficient when laid down and supervised, as proposed, by the Board of Agriculture itself
§ SIR EDWARD STRACHEYThe reply to the first part of the Question is in the affirmative. We are not satisfied that the sanitary precautions taken by the Belgian Government afford sufficient security against the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease into this country, and the importation of cattle from Belgium is therefore prohibited. The admission of animals into the Channel Islands from countries affected with foot-and-mouth disease would, we believe, be attended with considerable danger, inasmuch as experience has shown that nothing short of the absolute prohibition of importation from infected countries will prevent the introduction of disease. Section 25 of the Diseases of Animals 1365 Act, 1894, makes it incumbent upon us to adopt this course.