§ Mr. Bob Dunnasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many plant health inspectors have been appointed since 3 May 1979; and if he is satisfied with the current establishment.
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§ Mr. WigginWe are satisfied with the current establishment, which includes six new inspectors appointed since 3 May 1979.
§ Mr. Bob Dunnasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied with the conditions and facilities under which plant health inspectors operate at the ports and points of entry of goods from overseas; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WigginIn general we are satisfied with the effectiveness of the present arrangements, although we naturally welcome any improvements which may be introduced by the authorities concerned such as recent provision of new inspection bays at Dover.
§ Mr. Bob Dunnasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list in the Official Report the location of each port and point of entry of goods from overseas and list against each place given the establishment of plant health inspectors.
§ Mr. WigginThe trade concerned does not follow a fixed pattern, being largely seasonal and often opportunist. However, I am sending my hon. Friend a copy of a departmental discussion paper—safeguarding plant health—which identifies about 100 centres handling consignments either regularly, seasonally or occasionally.
The inspectorate is organised on a regional basis according to the overall volume of work which, apart from monitoring imports, includes visits to nurseries and farms on disease eradication, domestic plant health schemes, seeds inspections and export certification. In practice flexible deployment is essential, within and between regions, both to deal with outbreaks of disease and to cover seasonal peaks of work in frontier defence and inland duties.
§ Mr. Bob Dunnasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many United Kingdom plant health inspectors are currently serving in locations outside the United Kingdom; and what steps are being taken to provide cover for those serving elsewhere.
§ Mr. WigginTwo are on a month's detached duty in the Netherlands. The inspectorate is so organised that duties are reallocated when, as in this instance, the need arises.