§ MR. COOPER (Southwark, Bermondsey)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether the Board of Agriculture has withdrawn the prohibition to the importation of 928 foreign hay and straw; if not, whether he will name the European countries from which hay and straw may be imported; whether the importation of hay and straw from these European countries is allowed because these countries are free from cattle disease; and, if so, whether the Board of Agriculture is prepared to allow the importation of cattle for immediate slaughter from these countries.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) The reply to the first part of the Question is in the negative. The prohibition does not extend to hay or straw imported from Denmark, Norway, or Sweden, owing to the fact that the sanitary laws of these countries give a sufficient safeguard against the risk of the importation of foot-and-mouth disease by means of such hay or straw. The Board are not, however, prepared to allow the importation of cattle from the countries mentioned.