§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what action he has taken concerning imports of contaminated eggs from other European Community countries; and what evidence he has that other national governments are taking any steps to prevent such exports or to apply standards similar to those which have been imposed in the United Kingdom;
(2) what proportion of eggs imported into the United Kingdom are tested for salmonella and other forms of contamination; how many incidents of such contamination have been verified during the last 12 months; and how many consignments found to contain such contaminated eggs have been disposed of.
§ Mr. CurryArrangements have been made for port health authorities and the public health laboratory service to monitor imported eggs for salmonella. This is done by taking a sample of 60 eggs from each consignment, for testing. Since April when these arrangements commenced, six isolations of invasive salmonella have been made from imported eggs. We have, as a matter of the utmost seriousness, taken these up straightaway with the member states concerned.
The aim of the monitoring is to determine the risk of infection that imports pose over a period of time. No consignments of imported eggs have been destroyed.
No other member state is taking such comprehensive action as we are to deal with salmonella contamination in 211W eggs although I am aware that the Dutch Government have introduced measures in respect of the presence of Salmonella enteritidis in breeding flocks. For the future, effective safeguards depend on taking action on an EC-wide basis and we are pressing for the introduction of effective EC measures on specified zoonoses as soon as possible.