§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what procedures are taken to ensure that an animal rejected by a local veterinary inspector as380W unfit to travel on an export journey is not transported in Great Britain in a way which may cause it unnecessary suffering. [28627]
§ Mrs Browning[holding answer 10 May 1996]: There is a considerable variety of circumstances in which local veterinary inspectors may reject an animal as unfit for an export journey, and there is no basis for specifying a follow-up procedure which would be applicable in all cases. However, if an animal is unfit to travel, anyone who transported it, except in accordance with the Welfare of Animals during Transport Order 1994, would be committing an offence.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many bovines were exported during 1994 and 1995 to(a) Northern Ireland, (b) the Republic of Ireland, (c) France, (d) Spain, (e) Italy, (f) Belgium, (g) Netherlands and (h) Greece. [28625]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 10 May 1996]: Exports of bovine animals from the United Kingdom for 1994 and 1995 as recorded in the overseas trade statistics are as follows:
Number of head 19941 19951 Irish Republic 1,313 668 France 238,080 234,013 Spain Nil Nil Italy Nil 119 Belgium-Luxembourg 79,372 56,385 Netherlands 160,803 138,257 Greece Nil Nil 1Data provisional. These overseas trade statistics record exports from the United Kingdom but not trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, figures collated from the computerised animal movement—ANIMO—database, which records animals certified for export, show that 18,340 and 25,044 bovines were exported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in 1994 and 1995 respectively. These figures remain provisional, and subject to amendment.