§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, pursuant to his reply, Official Report, 27th June, columns 26–27, he is able to announce when the new regulations for the artificial insemination of cattle will be made; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. StrangThe Artificial Insemination of Cattle (England and Wales) Regulations 1977 are being laid before Parliament today. They will come into operation on 1st September. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has made similar regulations for application in Scotland: they take into account the special circumstances which exist there, in particular in the remoter areas.
The new regulations will permit farm storage of semen for DIY-AI. We believe it essential that the supply of semen for DIY-AI should be integrated with the national inseminator service in order to prevent possible erosion of that service and damage to the progeny testing schemes. DIY-AI has a useful role to play in British agriculture. The Government's aim is to provide a frameworkwhich enables it to develop without undermining the national inseminator service. For this reason, supply licences under the new regulations will be granted only to bodies comprising the national network. Licences for the supply and servicing of equipment and supply of materials to DIY-AI operators will notbe similarly restricted.
The making of the new regulations does not imply any change in the veterinary and genetic quality standards currently being applied in the approval of bulls for AI. These are separate issues and we propose to review them, in consultation with the interested organizations, later this year.
554WMany of the organisations consulted, including the NFU, have urged that the Agriculture Departments should accept a watch-dog role on relation to the charges made by AI centres for the storage and handling of semen. We accept this responsibility. For their part, the organisations representing the AI centres have said that they are ready to co-operate in providing the Agriculture Departments with full information about their charges.
We believe that the new regulations strike the right balance between the differing interests in this field and are to the advantage of the industry as a whole. If in the light of experience of operating the regulations it becomes clear that there is a case for modifying any part of them, the Government will, of course, look at the requirements afresh in consultation with the interested organisations.
Farmers who wish to store semen on the farm after 31st August 1977 should apply for a licence as soon as possible, as should those who wish to provide or service equipment or provide materials required for on-farm storage of semen.