§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many live animals exported for slaughter from the United Kingdom are then returned to Britain for sale.
§ Mr. SoamesThis information is not available.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if she will set out the legislation applicable to the further fattening of animals, the procedures followed and the point at which live animals exported are reclassified as being the responsibility of another country;
(2) how the Government interpret the term "further fattening" of live animals for food.
§ Mr. SoamesThe welfare of all livestock kept on agricultural land, whether for fattening or for other farming purposes, is protected by the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968 and by regulations and codes of practice made under that Act. The prevention of cruelty to animals, including farm livestock, is also covered by the Protection of Animals Acts 1911 to 1988.
Provisions of the Animal Health Act 1981 and orders made under it protect the welfare of animals during transport and at markets. This legislation does not distinguish between animals for further fattening and other categories, although the term "further fattening" is normally understood to refer to animals which are intended for food production but are not for immediate slaughter.
The Animal Health Act, either directly or by orders made under it, also requires the notification of certain animal diseases and contains measures to control or prevent the spread of disease.
It is the responsibility of each member state to enforce Community and national legislation within its territory and to co-operate with other member states in the exchange of information which will assist enforcement of Community law.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what plans she has to introduce restrictions of journey times for animals for slaughter;
(2) what plans she has to reduce the number of hours of the transportation of live animals.
§ Mr. SoamesThe Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1992 places a limit of 15 hours on the transport of farm livestock without the provision of food or water. The introduction of new controls on animal transport will depend on the outcome of European Community negotiations.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans she has to seek to amend the treaty of Rome to recognise the status of animals as sentient beings.
§ Mr. SoamesAmendments to the treaty are a matter for intergovernmental conferences of the EU member states. Following the last such IGC, a declaration was agreed at Maastricht on the need for the Community to take full 437W account of the welfare of farm animals when drawing up legislation. This followed a United Kingdom initiative and is a very positive step forward.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans she has to introduce special licensing of vehicles and drivers engaged in the transportation of animals.
§ Mr. SoamesTransporters of livestock must comply with welfare provisions made under the Animal Health Act 1981. The Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1992 requres any person having control of an animal transport undertaking to ensure that animals are entrusted only to persons possessing the knowledge necessary to administer appropriate care to the animals in transport. The need for any further measures will be kept under review in the light of European Community developments.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the responsibilities of her Ministry concerning the quotas for the export or import and slaughter of farm animals.
§ Mr. SoamesIn the sheep, beef and pig sectors there are no quotas for the export from the United Kingdom of live animals either for slaughter or for breeding. Quotas for imports of live sheep, cattle and pigs—and sheepmeat, beef and pigmeat—from third countries to the European Union are set for the EU as a whole and are administered in each member state by designated agencies. There are no specific import quotas for the United Kingdom.
For the slaughter of farm animals in the United Kingdom there are no quotas, but there is a restriction on the weekly throughput of small abattoirs, for hygiene purposes. Ministers negotiated into the EC directive governing the production of red meat less onerous structural requirements for low-throughput abattoirs which can achieve the necessary hygiene standards by handling one animal at a time. At the December 1992 Agriculture Council, my right hon. Friend the previous Secretary of State secured an increase in the throughput limit for such abattoirs from 12 livestock units to 20 livestock units per week, until 31 December 1994. The increase was welcomed as giving considerable flexibility to smaller businesses. The Commission is due to review the effect of the directive on small businesses and Ministers will press for the increased low-throughput limits to be made permanent.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment her Department has made of the export of meat carcases as a viable and achievable alternative to the transport of live animals abroad for slaughter.
§ Mr. SoamesUnited Kingdom exports of meat, the value of which is considerably greater than that of exports of live animals for food, provide an important contribution to the British economy. The movement of animals is a matter for commercial judgment subject to animal welfare and health safeguards.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans she has to give greater powers to animal welfare and health inspectors concerned with the transport or slaughter of animals.
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§ Mr. SoamesThe appropriate inspectors already have wide powers under the Animal Health Act 1981, the Slaughterhouses Act 1974 and the Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if she will list by category the number of live animals exported from the United Kingdom in each year since 1979;
(2) if he will list by category the numbers of live animals imported into Britain in each of the past 15 years.
§ Mr. SoamesTrade data are only available for the United Kingdom as a whole. Annual data for years prior to 1993 on the numbers and types of animals imported into the United Kingdom can be found within the Central Statistical Office publication "MA 20—Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom" and its predecessor publications. Data for 1993 are still provisional and subject to change but can be obtained by amalgamating the year to date data from two further Central Statistical Office publications, namely the "MM20—Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom with countries outside the EC" for December 1993 and the "MQ20—Overseas Trade Statistics of the United Kingdom with countries within the EC" for the fourth quarter of 1993.
Copies of all these publications can be found in the House of Commons Library.
§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many animals were exported from the United Kingdom for veal and foie gras production in the latest available year;
(2) for what purposes animals have been exported from the United Kingdom in the latest available year.
§ Mr. SoamesExports of live animals from the United Kingdom are generally for one of three purposes: (i) for breeding, (ii) for further production, or (iii) for immediate slaughter.
Trade data on exports for production of veal and foie gras are not available; however, no live geese were exported last year.
Animals exported from, or imported to, the United Kingdom are recorded under the internationally used United Nations standard industrial trade classification system. This does not comprehensively classify the purposes for which animals are exported. Details of the system can be found in the Central Statistical Office publication "MA 21—Guide to the Classification of Overseas Trade Statistics", and in particular division 00 thereof, a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library.