§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many poultry inspectors and vets are engaged in the inspection of poultry meat in each of the European Economic Community countries; and if he will state the overall cost to producers in the United Kingdom and in each of the other European Economic Community States.
§ Mr. WigginExact details for the United Kingdom could be obtained only by asking all the employing authorities, but we understand that there are currently about 380 poultry meat inspectors. There are 149 licensed poultry processing plants in the United Kingdom and they are usually supervised by veterinary surgeons working part time. The cost of the service in the current financial year is estimated to be of the order of £4 million.
We do not have comparable information for the other member States of the Community.