Bovine Somatotrophin (Hansard, 26 October 1988)

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, three companies are currently undertaking trials of this product in the UK authorised through animal test certificates granted under the Medicines Act 1968 to determine efficacy of the product in field conditions. Before test certificates were granted the licensing authority was fully satisfied with regard to the safety to the treated animal and to the consumers of produce from the treated animals. Had there been any doubts about safety, the certificates would not have been granted and the trials could not have begun.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, perhaps I may ask the Minister two questions. First, why is it that the Ministry of Agriculture has refused to identify those herds that are undergoing this process of experimentation? Secondly is it not the case that it is not the injection of BST which may be dangerous, but the fact that that injection into cattle reduces their immunity to disease and therefore they must have a whole series of further injections? Are the public not entitled to know what the effect of those further injections will be in both the milk and the meat which is now being supplied to it?

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, in answer to the noble Lord's first supplementary question, Section 118 of the Medicines Act prohibits the disclosure of information supplied by applicants for product licences and test certificates. Therefore it is not possible, or desirable, to divulge that information. As regards the second supplementary, I understand that there is no evidence regarding the harmful implications to which he has referred.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, will the tests which the Government are authorising also look at the long-term effects on the cattle? As the noble Earl knows, you do not get anything for nothing. The effect of injecting an animal to put it way beyond its genetic ability is bound to have side effects. Therefore, I hope that the Minister and the Ministry are considering a fairly long-term experiment; otherwise it could produce very serious results in the production of our beef cattle, let alone anything else.

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for what he has said. Indeed, the Farm Animal Welfare Council has been consulted on the use of BST. The council has reported that there is no concern over short-term effects, and the longer-term effects are being considered in the ongoing field trials. In view of the evidence so far available, I suggest to the noble Lord that he should be reassured that with the bovine species there is an element of honesty and predictability. Indeed, I think that we can all agree that cows will always be cows.

§ Lord Carter
My Lords, does the Minister not agree that if the use of bovine somatotrophin is to be allowed it will be subject to a directive from the European Community? If that is the case, what is the Government's view regarding the enforcement of such a directive? In some countries of the Community the average herd size is extremely small, perhaps only five or 10 cows.
Can he further say, if research is to be done into the use of this product, whether the Government will regard it as near market research to be funded by the agricultural industry, or will it be regarded as basic research and therefore funded by the Government?

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, as regards the procedures that are necessary for licence applications, for the use of bovine somatotrophin, I can confirm that those are being considered in accordance with the provisions and procedures of the Medicines Act and European Community legislation.

§ Lord Mackie of Benshie
My Lords, if the Minister thinks that bovine animals are predictable, perhaps he should try taking a Friesian bull as a pet.

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, I have great respect for the noble Lord's ability as a farmer, farming as he does not far from where I live. I always take note of what he says.

§ Lord Stoddart of Swindon
My Lords, am I correct in believing that the use of this drug is to increase the yields of both beef and milk? Am I also correct in believing that there is a milk surplus and that we are selling milk products at knock-down prices? Under those circumstances, why is it that this hormone drug is used?

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, the noble Lord has a point. The overall level of milk production in the EC is controlled by quota. However, BST may permit producers to achieve their quota with more efficient use of inputs.

Lord Winstanley
My Lords, I wish to refer back to the further injections to which the noble Lord, Lord Hatch, referred. I am advised that such injections may well be antibiotics. Does the noble Earl recollect—if he is old enough—that many years ago a large number of children were diagnosed as suffering from milk allergy? Later, it was discovered that they were in fact suffering from an allergy to penicillin which had found its way into milk? Can we 1610 make absolutely sure that nothing like that happens again?

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord and of course I appreciate his skill in the medical profession. I shall pass on his remarks to my right honourable friend.

§ Lord Gallacher
My Lords, is the noble Earl aware that despite assurances he has given about the safety of this hormone, there is considerable concern on the part of consumers in general about its likely effect on milk in the long term and, consequently, on health? Can he therefore assure the House that those concerns will be taken full account of by his Ministry before further experiments are authorised? Even if those concerns are found to be perhaps lacking in scientific certainty, will he take account of the fact that consumers may decide on the basis of their concerns—real or misplaced—that milk is no longer a safe commodity?

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that milk or meat would never be allowed to find its way into the food chain if the evidence had not been carefully scrutinised and accepted by the Veterinary Products Committee. We must agree that while consumer fears from whatever source should be respected and addressed, nevertheless in deciding how to proceed in this matter, we must go by the evidence.

§ Viscount Ullswater
My Lords, I welcome the news that the Government have set up tests to investigate the use of BST in dairy cattle, but will they pay attention to the results of those tests, unlike the findings of the committee set up by the EC under Professor Lamy to look into the use of growth hormones in these cattle which were totally disregarded?

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, I can reassure my noble friend that the results of the tests will be studied and acted upon.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, does the Minister agree with my noble friend on the Front Bench that this is a matter of consumer rights? Was he saying in answer to my first question that the law forbids the Minister of Agriculture identifying those herds which are now being injected with BST and, if so, surely it is time that that law was changed? He said that there was no evidence that the further injections could be damaging to health. That is not to say that they are not damaging to health. Before such experiments are launched upon the public, surely the public has a right to know what is being injected into milk and meat and the right to have the choice of refusing it by having them labelled.

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, in answer to the main thrust of the noble Lord's remarks, there is definite evidence that there are no harmful effects to the consumer and the food chain. On the rights of the consumer to be entitled to information, the provisions of the Medicines Act 1968, to which I have already referred, were put there by Parliament so that 1611 a company's commercially sensitive information could not be pirated by rivals. It would be difficult to re-draft the provisions so as to allow, consistently and fairly, some parts of the application to be divulged but not others. And the process of distinguishing that which was commercially sensitive from that which was commercially safe would probably divulge the sensitive information anyway. Thus in short, although we are talking about cattle, the noble Lord should pay attention to the concept of the chicken and the egg.

Lord Morris
My Lords, will my noble friend confirm that the Standing Orders of your Lordships' House provide that the interrogator at Question Time asks one supplementary question and one only?

The Earl of Dundee
My Lords, I may have to correct my noble friend; I think that it may be two.