§ Mrs. Ewingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the present policy concerning importation of meat products from countries where foot-and-mouth disease is endemic; to what extent restrictions have been removed; what is the present level of imports; and what it was in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. John MackieImports of meat products—as distinct from carcase meat—from countries where we consider foot and mouth disease to be currently endemic are restricted to those fully cooked and processed products which we consider to represent no significant disease risk. There has been no relaxation of restrictions.
312WImports of meat products from such countries in November, December, 1968 and January, 1969 totalled 10.7 thousand tons. In each of the five calendar years 1964 to 1968 they totalled respectively 41,100, 30,700, 33,200, 51,500 and 53,300 tons.