HL Deb 10 November 1988 vol 501 cc804-5

7.55 p.m.

The Earl of Dundee rose to move, That the order laid before the House on 31st October be approved. [36th Report from the Joint Committee].

The noble Earl said: My Lords, the background to this order needs little introducion to your Lordships. The Government's measures to control movement and slaughter of sheep from the restricted areas affected by the Chernobyl radioactivity by means of monitoring and marking sheep with green, blue and apricot paint used in rotation have been the subject of previous debates.

I shall accordingly confine my remarks to an exposition of the changes made by the order. First, sheep marked with apricot paint are no longer subject to the slaughter restrictions. Comprehensive monitoring of those sheep, all of which were in unrestricted areas, has shown that the levels of radioactivity in their bodies are now acceptable.

Secondly, it is time to change the colour used to mark the sheep coming forward for monitoring under the mark and release scheme. The colour to be used to denote contaminated sheep coming from a restricted area is now blue which replaces green. Sheep marked with either of those colours remain subject to the movement and slaughter restrictions and no such sheep may be slaughtered unless it successfully passes a remonitoring test for radioactivity and is identified with a special ear tag which shows that it has passed the test.

Thirdly, marking with red paint is introduced in Scotland. Red paint is being and will be applied to sheep, mainly breeding sheep, going from a restricted area and liable to return there, most commonly after wintering. That is designed to meet the criticism made by the agricultural committee in another place that the procedures in Scotland were inherently less rigorous than those being applied in England and Wales.

The order also makes clear that sheep which have passed the monitoring test and leave a restricted area unmarked are not subject to the slaughter control and that only unmarked sheep and red-marked sheep may be brought into a restricted area. Of course, sheep marked apricot and blue cannot be brought back into a restricted area. Breeding sheep, by definition, are not intended for slaughter and entry into the food chain. Those animals can go into a restricted as well as a non-restricted farm for breeding purposes without posing any threat to health. Once back in the restricted area, the mark and release strictures on movement and slaughter would again apply.

We thank the farmers in the restricted areas and their union for their co-operation and help in the exercise of our control measures. Perhaps I may assure your Lordships that those necessary controls on the movement and slaughter of sheep from the restricted areas will continue for as long as necessary to protect the public. Therefore, I commend the order to the House and I beg to move.

Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 31st October be approved. [36th Report from the Joint Committee]—(The Earl of Dundee.)

8 p.m.

Lord Carter

My Lords, I am sure the House will be grateful to the Minister for the way in which he has explained this rather complicated order which concerns the paint used for the sheep. I should like to refer to the report of the Select Committee in another place which stated: We received conflicting evidence about the paint used to implement the Mark and Release arrangements. 'The worst paint I had ever used in my life,' said one farmer. 'It had no tar in it and was too watery'.". The report goes on: We believe that teething problems were inevitable in an exercise of this kind and that the type of paint used has not incurred sufficient criticism to be an object of major concern. In view of the importance to the Mark and Release arrangements of having reliable paint, however, we believe that MAFF should conduct further research into this matter, with a view to building up emergency stocks of tried-and-tested paints for use on different species in similar situations". I should like to ask if that has been done.

The Minister also referred to the criticism of the procedures in the DAFS where the report pointed out that the procedures were inherently less rigorous in Scotland than for England and Wales and they should be brought into line in the interests of consistency. As I understand it, that has now been done.

I should finally like to quote from that excellent report prepared by the Select Committee in another place. There has been considerable concern about radiation and about the possibility of contaminated animals entering the food chain. The report concluded: We believe that the Government should examine how the facts about radiation can be most clearly explained, and misconceived or exaggerated fears laid to rest". From this side of the House we hope that the Minister will be able to reassure us that the Government have taken on board the helpful suggestions set out in the Select Committee's report.

The Earl of Dundee

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his welcome for this measure. As regards his last point, I confirm that the observations in the Select Committee's report are being taken on board.

The noble Lord referred to the inadequacy of the paint. The problem is that the paint had to be used promptly and it was the best that was available. However, I can assure the noble Lord that MAFF is now looking into the position.

On Question, Motion agreed to.