§ 15. Mr. MillerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to promote the export of carcase meat.
§ Mr. JackWe continue to support the Meat and Livestock Commission's excellent promotion of meat products and exports.
§ Mr. MillerDoes the Minister agree that, if he banned the export of live animals, the British slaughterhouse industry could cope with the increased throughput of some 2 billion animals? Does he agree that such a step would not only remove some of the barbaric practices in the transport of live animals but stop the export of British jobs?
§ Mr. JackSadly, the hon. Gentleman's question does not relate the enormous amount of work that my right hon. Friend the Minister is undertaking to try to find a Europe-wide solution to improve the welfare of animals in transit. However, I gather from the nature of his question that the hon. Gentleman would, at a stroke, do away with a trade worth £200 million to British farmers, and farmers will have noted carefully the terms in which he put it.
The Meat and Livestock Commission is working extremely hard to open up new opportunities for sales of carcase beef, and the work that we have done on bovine spongiform encephalopathy has kept European markets such as Germany open to us. It is sad that, on the day that we announced the new opportunities for young beef cattle to be exported from the United Kingdom, the hon. Gentleman does not refer to that in his question.
§ Mr. MarlandCan my hon. Friend confirm that exports of British meat have almost doubled since 1991, thereby emphasising that, internationally, British meat is seen to be of the highest standard? It is important to keep that industry alive and vital. Does my hon. Friend agree that, in 1976, the hon. Member for Edinburgh, East (Dr. Strang) introduced statutory succession rights for tenants, that he thereby denied new entrants the opportunity of coming into the farming market, that it was a disgraceful thing to do and that we should quickly undo that bad work?
§ Mr. JackMy hon. Friend is entirely right. The meat industry will be worth £891 million in exports this year and it is certainly true that the reform of agricultural tenancy, which hon. Members on the Conservative Benches unequivocally support, will open the door to new, young, innovative farmers who will be able to take advantage of the excellent opportunities for exporting British meat.
§ Mr. Tony BanksWill the Minister join me in congratulating the animal welfare organisations and the travelling public on putting such pressure on the ferry companies that most of them have banned the carrying of live animals across the channel?
§ Mr. JackWhat I will do is join those people who support my right hon. Friend the Minister in his attempt to find a Europe-wide solution to ensure that continental 467 practice is brought up to the standard of the United Kingdom. I am disappointed that, in spite of his tremendous efforts, people have unilaterally withdrawn an important transport link for our cattle producers. It is perhaps a sad day when they have not listened to what the Minister has done, especially in working to develop a code of practice, to regulate the movement of live animals into Europe.