§ Mr. David Steelasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much meat from the Argentine and Uruguay is held in cold storage at present; and what Her Majesty's Government intends to do with it.
§ Mr. Peart:The returns made to me by cold storage operators do not identify meat in store by countries of origin. I 285W am not yet able to comment on the disposal of stocks held un under the arrangements I announced on 4th December 1967.
§ Sir Clive Bossomasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he will make a statement about the latest consignment of meat from the Argentine; and whether he is now satisfied that it is entirely free from foot-and-mouth virus.
§ Mr. Peart:My information is that the latest consignment of Argentine meat arrived at the Royal Victoria Docks on 22nd December. Chilled beef in transit when the temporary suspension of imports was announced was distributed only in the Greater London Area and is now all consumed. Frozen meat from countries to which the suspension applies is held in cold store. There is no practicable way of determining with certainty whether virus is present in a consignment of meat.