§ 30. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware that, owing to the refusal to allow Argentine cattle to be brought to our ports for slaughter, they are being taken alive to Zeebrugge and slaughtered there; that sides of beef from these cattle are being sent to Smithfield market and are indistinguishable from home-killed English beef; that this results in edible offals, and the hides, and other offals for manufacture being retained in Belgium, to the great advantage of the slaughterers, merchants and manufacturers in that country; and that there is a proposal to build large new abattoirs in Zeebrugge for the enlargement of this trade; and whether he will reconsider the question of relaxing the regulations so as to allow clean cattle to be brought to our own ports for slaughter?
Mr. GUINNESSIn the light of former experience that the trade in live cattle with Argentina cannot he conducted without risk of the introduction of disea-e, I am unable by the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894, to allow the entry of such cattle, even for slaughter at the port. The establishment of abattoirs at Zeebrugge, from which fresh carcases of animals newly landed from South America are immediately railed to London is causing me grave concern, and I have instituted active inquiries to ascertain to what extent we are thereby exposed to the danger of the introduction of disease.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that there has been no disease at all introduced into Belgium by this method in recent years? In view of that, is it not time that this policy was reconsidered?
Mr. GUINNESSI do not know on what information the hon. and gallant Gentleman bases his statement, but there is so much disease throughout the Continent of Western Europe that, naturally, there is no objection to cargoes from 859 other diseased countries being landed there.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYMy information comes from those in the trade, who are in touch with this matter. Is it not a fact that there has been no disease introduced into Belgium from these Argentine cattle?
Mr. GUINNESSThe fact remains that the Argentine at present has a great deal of foot-and-mouth disease. We had a terrible object lesson in 1900, when 26 diseased cargoes from the Argentine were landed at Deptford, and since then, in 1923, we have had the object lesson of the steamer" Hartington," in which disease broke out in a large cargo of cattle, which were thrown overboard in consequence.