§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what would be the cost of slaughtering the national cattle herd. [22952]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe national cattle herd is about 11.8 million head. Slaughtering animals alone at a cost of about £50 per head would cost around £590 million. More substantial would be the economic costs to the meat and dairy industries and compensation to farmers for loss of stock and replacement.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action is being taken to stop the use of(a) mammalian meat and (b) other waste abattoir and butchers' animal matter and bonemeal in the manufacture of non-farm animal feed. [23347]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe inclusion of mammalian meat and bone meal is prohibited in all farm animal feed, including farmed fish and feed for horses. It can be used in pet food, but only if this is manufactured in premises not also used to manufacture feed for farm animals. Protein from specified bovine material cannot be used in any animal feed. Tallow from this material can be used for animal feed after processing by the oleochemical industry, but my Department issued a consultation document on 24 April proposing that this be prohibited.
§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which(a) EU and (b) non-EU countries have had confirmed cases of BSE; how many cases have been confirmed in each country; and in which countries BSE is now considered to be endemic. [23205]
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the disposal policy for cattle infected with BSE in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) Ireland, (c) France and (d) other EU member states. [23359]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: The following number of BSE cases have been notified in the following countries up to 22 April 1996:
410W
Number Great Britain 159,743 Northern Ireland 1,680 Isle of Man 405 Jersey 119 Guernsey 580 Alderney 2 Republic of Ireland 124
Number France 17 Portugal 34 Switzerland 210 Germany 4 Denmark 1 Italy 2 Canada 1 Oman 1 Falkland Island 1 Outside the British Isles, BSE has occurred in home bred animals in the Republic of Ireland, France, Portugal and Switzerland. All other cases in other countries have occurred in animals which were born in the UK.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list studies evaluated by his Department on developing sub-typing on the BSE agent. [23358]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: Project code SE 1403, "Strain typing of BSE pathogens in mice, comparison with strains from natural sheep scrapie", has been evaluated. Project code SE 1415, "Strain typing of BSE pathogen in mice and comparison with strains from natural sheep scrapie", has been partially evaluated since it started only last year.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the current penalties for infringement of BSE regulations; in what circumstances these penalties applied; and what plans he has to change these penalties. [23366]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 25 April 1996, Official Report, column 273, which details the penalties in place for infringement of the controls on specified bovine material.
The penalties which would apply on summary conviction for a contravention of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Order 1991, as amended, are a fine of up to £5,000 and, in relation to the restrictions regarding feedingstuffs, where appropriate a further fine of up to £1,000 for each 508 kg of feedingstuffs, beyond the initial 508 kg of feedingstuffs, in respect of which the offence is committed. Furthermore, a person who has been convicted for contravening the provisions of the order is liable at the court's discretion on a further conviction for a second or subsequent offence against the order to imprisonment for a term of up to one month in lieu of the applicable fine.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the annual expenditure on research into BSE since 1985 in 1996 prices; and if he will make a statement. [23360]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe expenditure on research into BSE since 1991 at 1996 prices is estimated to be:
411W
Financial year £ million 1991–92 15.276 1992–93 16.348 1993–94 16.278 1994–95 15.909
Financial year £ million 1995–96 5.7 1996–97 6.6 (estimated) 1 Estimated using GDP deflator for November 1995. Records prior to 1991 were not computerised; to provide a financial breakdown prior to this date could be done only at disproportionate cost.
§ Dr. MoonieTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy have occurred in cows born in(a) 1989, (b) 1990, (c) 1991, (d) 1992 and (e) 1993. [24001]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 2 April 1996]: The following table shows the number of confirmed BSE cases at 15 April by year of birth since 1989:
Year of birth Number of cases 1989 10,621 1990 3,346 1991 1,119 1992 76 1993 1
§ Mr. David MartinTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what date he was informed by the SEAC of new evidence as to a possible link between BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. [25341]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe Minister was informed on 13 March 1996 that evidence had been presented to the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee about a new variant of CJD. SEAC presented its conclusions on this new variant and the possibility that it was linked to BSE to the Government on 20 March 1996, and statements were made to the House on that day.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the European ban on british beef includes calves. [25252]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 16 April 1996]: Yes.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what consideration has been given to(a) the method and (b) the location of slaughter of potentially BSE-infected cattle. [25253]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 16 April 1996]: All BSE suspects reported and placed under restriction and subsequently slaughtered are killed by intravenous barbiturate overdose. This is done at the place where the suspect is reported, normally a farm.
Healthy cattle over 30 months of age, which are now excluded from the food chain, will be slaughtered in the normal way in approved abattoirs but separately from animals intended for human consumption.
§ Miss Emma NicholsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to include the animal feed industry in compensation packages arising from the current BSE situation. [26134]
§ Mrs. BrowningMany sectors of industry have suffered from the current market turbulence in the beef industry. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced measures on 16 April,412W Official Report, columns 513-16, to support those sectors whose particular circumstances and role made such support necessary. The circumstances of other sectors that have suffered from the current crisis will be considered carefully by my right hon. Friend and ministerial colleagues, but there are no plans at present to provide financial support for the animal feed industry.
§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with European countries importing live veal calves from Britain about the possibility of contracting CJD from cattle infected with BSE. [23791]
§ Mrs. BrowningColleagues in other member states have been kept fully informed of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee's recent advice on the possible link between BSE and CJD, in the Council of Ministers, the Standing Veterinary Committee and the EC Scientific Veterinary Committee.
§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons deboning is not required for cattle of 30 months or under. [23202]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 march 1996]: Because the independent advisory committee, SEAC, has not recommended it.