§ Mr. Craigenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what steps his Department is taking in conjunction with British and French customs authorities, to ensure that animals are not illegally being transported to Spain, or any other country where the slaughterhouses do not come up to British standards;
(2) to which countries, apart from Spain, the ban on the export of live animals applies for welfare reasons.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonIt is my Department's policy to license exports of farm livestock for immediate slaughter or for further fattening only to member states of the European Community where they will have the protection of Community safeguards on welfare in transit and at the place of slaughter. Since Spain and Portugal have not yet implemented the relevant directives, we have not licensed any exports to them.
In view of the recent reports that live sheep exported to France have in fact been sent on from that country to an abbatoir in Spain, we have told exporters of sheep to France that before any further licence is granted they will have to provide documentary proof from the French importer that the consignment is going to a destination in France and will not be sent on to any other country.