Food Standards Agency

HC Deb 19 February 1998 vol 306 cc1171-2

9. Mr. Timms

How many representations he has received in response to the Food Standards Agency White Paper. [28753]

Mr. Rooker

Public consultation on the White Paper ends on 16 March. As of yesterday, 52 written formal responses have been made to the Department. My right hon. Friend and I have also met a number of interested organisations to discuss the White Paper.

Mr. Timms

Are not the Government's proposals good news for all those producers and consumers who suffered so grievously from the series of regulatory failures followed by cover-ups which characterised the stewardship of the Conservative party? What assurances can my hon. Friend give on two specific aspects of the proposals—first, on the independence of the agency and, secondly, on public access to its data and conclusions?

Mr. Rooker

The independence of the agency will be enshrined in legislation which will be approved by the House. The commissioners who will govern the agency will be appointed under full Nolan principles, they will not be representative of any vested interest groups and they will be appointed for their individual expertise. There can be no greater signal that the agency will be open than that it will publish its advice to Ministers.

Mr. Clifton-Brown

Will the Minister confirm that the Food Standards Agency will negotiate on behalf of the Government in Europe and elsewhere? Will he also confirm that the agency will draft secondary legislation for the Ministry of Agriculture?

Mr. Rooker

Yes and yes.

Mr. Sheerman

Does my hon. Friend agree that only an effective Food Standards Agency will put behind us the tragedy for British agriculture that was caused by the former Government, and that the sooner such an effective agency is up and running, the sooner British consumers can be assured of the quality of the food that they eat and producers can be assured of a good market for good produce?

Mr. Rooker

Yes, but British consumers do not have to wait until the agency is up and running. The Government's policy is to make consumer safety and food safety a top priority. That is where the change of policy started in May last year.

Mr. Jack

The Minister may recall that he was supposed to have been in Harrogate on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the Food Standards Agency at the Hortex exhibition, which I opened. Can he explain to the House why, at the last minute, he gave a slap in the face to horticulture by cancelling his attendance at that meeting? Can he further explain why no other Minister was put up to speak in his place and why, if that was not possible, an official was not sent? He disappointed and upset many people who wanted to know about the agency, and showed disdain to the horticulture industry.

Mr. Rooker

I had urgent diary commitments in London.

Mrs. Humble

I was pleased to hear my hon. Friend refer a moment ago to the importance of consumer safety. Does he agree that one of the key tasks for the new Food Standards Agency is to deal with E. coli poisoning so that other parents do not suffer, as two parents in my constituency have, the sad, sorry, unnecessary premature death of a child?

Mr. Rooker

My hon. Friend is right. Maintaining healthy living in this dirty world requires constant vigilance of some of the bugs that are around, especially those that were not around or known in this country two decades ago.