§ 5. Mr. BennettTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement about how long she expects the restrictions on sale of sheep from lands contaminated by Chernobyl to last.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Nicholas Soames)More than 93 per cent. of the holdings originally under restriction have been derestricted and the remaining restrictions will be lifted as soon as possible, consistent only with the need to ensure the continued protection of the food chain.
§ Mr. BennettI welcome the fact that another series of farms was released from restrictions in January. Can the Minister assure us that those restrictions will not have to be reimposed and that the land is now perfectly safe? Has the effect of the Chernobyl disaster on those areas had any long-term effect on the breeding ewes in the areas and has the Minister any idea, other than saying "as soon as possible", when the final restrictions will be removed? Is he also satisfied that food products coming into Britain from other parts of Europe are being subjected to the same rigorous tests as those that have been applied in Britain as a result of Chernobyl?
§ Mr. SoamesThe hon. Gentleman is right to say that quite a few holdings have been taken out of restriction in the past 12 months. There are now 592 holdings under 421 restriction, compared with 9,000 when the restrictions were introduced. The Government, as the hon. Gentleman knows, place the highest possible emphasis on ensuring the safety and quality of our food supplies. That is why we have such a prudent and thorough monitoring method. As to when the restrictions will end, the hon. Gentleman knows, because he takes a keen interest in the subject, that those areas have difficult land—poorly drained, peaty uplands—which lacks the minerals that could chemically immobilise the caesium. It is impossible for us to tell when they will be completely cured, but we continue to monitor in a prudent and thorough manner.
§ Mr. GarnierI sympathise with the farmers affected by the restrictions, but does my hon. Friend agree that while those restrictions are in place it gives the public, at home and abroad, a better chance to taste Harborough sheepmeat? While it is likely that the differential in price between sheepmeat on the hook and on the hoof will, in due course, diminish to extinction, while that differential exists will he do all that he can to enable Harborough sheep farmers to export live sheep without hindrance from those across the channel?
§ Mr. SoamesMy hon. Friend raises an important point. It is perfectly possible, provided that the rules are stuck to, for animals to be properly and humanely transported. We remain anxious to ensure that an equal regime is in place throughout the continent and I can assure my hon. Friend that I am fully aware that people on the continent prize Harborough sheep as much as we do here.
§ Mr. Martyn JonesAlthough there have been restrictions on the sale of sheep in Chernobyl-affected areas since 1987 on human health grounds, there have been no restrictions on the sale of cattle from the Green Lane farm in Kelsall on animal health grounds. It is not good enough for the Minister to say that the bovine immuno-deficiency virus causes only a transient rise in temperature in the affected cattle when Black's Veterinary Dictionary suggests that it is a potentially very dangerous pathogen of cattle. What is he going to do to avoid the spread of the disease?
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I doubt whether the hon. Gentleman's question relates at all to that on the Order Paper. In that case, I call Sir Peter Tapsell.
§ Sir Peter TapsellIn view of repeated reports of the steady deterioration in the condition of the huge number of nuclear warheads stored in the Ukraine and Russia, does my hon. Friend accept that the danger of future nuclear fallout in this country has to be kept very much in mind? Does his Department have any scheme ready to tell farmers what to do if there is a recurrence of anything of the nature of Chernobyl? For instance, may I put it to him that when I recently—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder.
§ Sir Peter TapsellIt is a question.
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I have a statement to make on these matters later in which all hon. Members will be interested. We are not in debate; I should like a direct question please.
§ Sir Peter TapsellIs my hon. Friend aware that when I flew over South Korea in winter—
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. The hon. Gentleman has asked his question, and I am sure that the Minister heard the first part, to which I am entitled to ask him to respond.
§ Mr. SoamesThe House will be anxious to know what my hon. Friend saw in Korea. He makes an important point about nuclear accidents of this type. It is plain that we have learnt a great deal from Chernobyl. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has a fully equipped and extremely sophisticated emergency response headquarters and a plan of action in the event of any such unfortunate recurrence. I assure my hon. Friend that we will be fully prepared for almost any eventuality.
§ Mr. Barry JonesWill the Minister acknowledge just how difficult it is to eke out a living on the uplands, especially in Wales? Will he also acknowledge that it is very difficult for those who run their sheep on Chernobyl-affected pasture to make a living and that many of us believe that the Government's regime for upland areas is neither as imaginative nor as generous as it should be? Will he take action?
§ Mr. SoamesIt has been my experience that every Government scheme is deemed by the Opposition to be neither imaginative nor generous. The scheme to which the hon. Gentleman referred has stood the test of time and served farmers extremely well. Help given to the farmers centres on mark and release arrangements which, as the hon. Gentleman knows, enable controls to be applied with the minimum disruption to normal farming practices, and the associated compensation payments mitigate the adverse economic effects. He should be quite satisfied with that.