§ 7. Mr. HealdTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on minimum residue limits of veterinary products in equines.
§ Mr. SoamesUnder Council regulations, maximum residue limits must be established by 1996 for active ingredients in veterinary medicines used in food-producing species, including horses. That does not apply if a horse is not destined for human consumption.
§ Mr. HealdI welcome my hon. Friend's reply. Does he agree that is important that ponies should be protected, and would he care to comment further on the position concerning ponies and their owners?
§ Mr. SoamesI am grateful to my hon. Friend. That matter is dear to the hearts of many of our fellow citizens. I can assure him that the regulations that we have in place to ensure that ponies are not exported for slaughter or, indeed, that any horses are not exported for immediate slaughter are extremely important to us. We retain them at a very high level of vigilance. Our minimum value system, as everyone knows, has served us extremely well and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.