§ Q3. Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Prime Minister what proposals he has to co-ordinate the work of the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food with regard to imports of meat from South America.
§ The Prime MinisterThe Departments concerned already work closely together and no new measures of co-ordination are needed.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkWho is being difficult? If there was a prima facie case 643 for the ban in the first place, what possible justification can there be for removing it before the committee of inquiry has even started its work?
§ The Prime MinisterThe hon. Gentleman will have seen the statement of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. I do not think that it is right for me to add to it until the final statement is made which my right hon. Friend said would be before 4th March. He gave the reasons in his statement why more time was needed to complete his inquiries.
§ Mr. ThorpeSince the Government have rightly set up a high-powered committee to look into the whole question of foot-and-mouth disease, would not it be right, in the interests of both the Board of Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture, that they should ask for and wait upon an interim report on meat imports from the Argentine and other countries where foot-and-mouth is endemic before the Minister comes to a final view?
§ The Prime MinisterI am well aware of the feelings on both sides of the House, particularly those of hon. Members representing agricultural areas, that the ban should continue for a very much longer time. There is also the view expressed by other hon. Members about the very serious effect indeed on our export trade to Latin America. Therefore, the matter must be judged on the basis put forward by my right hon. Friend last week.
§ Sir A. V. HarveyWill the Prime Minister take into account that three farms in the North-West are suffering a foot-and-mouth epidemic for the second time in a few months? Will he pay the same regard to the export problem, which we all appreciate, as he has done to South Africa?
§ The Prime MinisterMy right hon. Friend made clear what the position was last week. I do not think that I can add to what he said. It is certainly true, as the hon. Gentleman said, that even where slaughter followed the discovery of foot-and-mouth some months ago certain farms have again been hit by foot-and-mouth now that the farmers have thought that they were clear and started to restock. This has been extremely tragic 644 for the farmers concerned. It is a very serious matter for them, and is naturally one of the things that my right hon. Friends must take into consideration.