§ 14. Sir A. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now make a statement on the arrange- 892 ments under which Irish cattle will he allowed to enter Great Britain when tuberculosis has been eradicated from cattle herds in this country.
§ Mr. GodberYes, Sir. The Government have informed the Government of the Irish Republic that for five years after the date on which Great Britain is declared free of bovine tuberculosis we shall be prepared to allow the continued importation of once-tested cattle into Great Britain subject to the same safeguards as apply at present. The arrangements will be subject to annual review. Their purpose is to enable our requirements to be fully met by attested cattle at the end of the five-year period. I am circulating a fuller statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Sir A. HurdDoes my hon. Friend's Department recognise that there is a disease risk in this proposed arrangement, necessary as it might be, and that as we become less and less affected by bovine tuberculosis our cattle will have less resistance to the infection? What proportion of Irish cattle now coming in under the single test arrangement have proved to have bovine tuberculosis?
§ Mr. GodberWe realise that there is an element of risk, but provided that the isolation period of 60 days is strictly observed we think there is little danger of reinfection to our own herd. Certainly, that has been our experience in our existing attested areas. Concerning the percentage rate of reactors coming in from the Republic of Ireland, the last official figure I had was 2½ per cent., but I understand that since then it has come down to between 1½ and 2 per cent.
§ Mr. ChampionDo the Irish authorities accept the five-year period as reasonable? I know that there are difficulties, but would it have been possible to have screwed it down a little bit lower than the five years? As the hon. Gentleman has said, there is a considerable risk.
§ Mr. GodberWe considered this most carefully. Until recently, progress in Ireland has not been nearly as fast as we would have wished, but recently the Irish have made great strides. It would be unrealistic for us to hope for completion in less than five years, but we are determined to maintain that figure and we have set it as a target, which I very much hope the Irish will be able to attain.
Following is the statement:It is the Government's intention that as soon as possible after 1960, when Great Britain is expected to be virtually free of bovine tuberculosis, imports of store cattle into Great Britain shall be confined to attested animals. The Government recognises, however, that enough attested cattle are unlikely to be available for export from the Irish Republic by 1961. To ban imports of non-attested cattle immediately would therefore be likely to cause hardship to many farmers who rely on imported cattle and to affect our beef supplies. The Government have therefore informed the Government of the Republic that we shall be prepared to allow the continued importation into Great Britain of cattle which have passed a single tuberculin test not more than fourteen days before export, for a period of five years after the date on which Great Britain is declared free of bovine tuberculosis. The movement of such cattle on to farms in Great Britain will be permitted on the same conditions as at present apply to their movement on to farms where attested herds are kept, and my right hon. Friend is advised that under these conditions once-tested cattle may he imported without significant risk of reintroducing tuberculosis to our cattle herds.The arrangements will be subject to annual review in the light of experience, but will not be terminated before the end of the five-year period except after consultation with the Government of the Irish Republic. The purpose of the arrangements is to enable our requirements to be fully met by attested cattle at the end of the five-year period.