§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the current state of the rendering and slaughtering industries. [20264]
§ Mr. RookerThe rendering industry plays a vital part in ensuring that the essential elements of the meat chain continue to function. Support to the rendering industry in 1996–97 allowed them to maintain pre-crisis prices and charges to suppliers of animal waste. The Scheme provides for support to be phased out during 1997–98 to enable the meat chain, including the renderers, gradually to adjust to the changing economics.
In terms of the slaughterers, it is widely accepted that there is substantial over-capacity in the red meat slaughtering sector, particularly in respect of abattoirs slaughtering cattle and sheep. There is intense competition between slaughterhouses, both for throughput and for customers and profit margins are low. The UK needs a modern financially viable slaughterhouse sector and in this context rationalism is highly desirable. However, we believe it is for the industry itself and not Government to address this issue.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list the amount of financial assistance claimed by the rendering industry in the financial years 1996–97 and 1997–98, listing(a) those organisations or companies which claimed the assistance, 681W (b) the amounts they received in each of the two years and (c) the identity of the sites, at which the offal was disposed; [20274]
(2) what payments were made to rendering companies in (a) 1996–97 and (b) 1997–98 for the rendering of clean animals. [20265]
§ Mr. RookerA figure of £97 million was paid to 22 companies under the Rendering Industry Support Scheme 1996 (TRISS 96). Of the £59 million available under the 1997 Scheme, £46 million has been paid to date to 19 companies.
The companies and the locations of the plants where the clean offals are rendered are:
Company Location A. Hughes and Son (Skellingthorpe) Ltd. 1 Skellingthorpe A. and W. Chambers Ltd. 1 Huddersfield Anglo Beef Processors Ltd. 1 NewryShrewsbury Canterbury Mills Ltd. Canterbury Chetwynd Animal By-Products2 Cardigan Croda Colloids Ltd. 1 Market Harborough Duncrue Food Processors Ltd. Belfast Dundas Brothers Ltd. 1 Inverurie Dundas Chemical Company (Mosspark) Ltd. 1 Dumfries Fats and Proteins (UK) Ltd. 1 Lancaster Foyle Meats Ltd. 1 Londonderry John Pointon and Sons Ltd. 1 Cheddleton Lisburn Proteins Ltd. Lisburn Lloyd Maunder Ltd. 1 Cullompton McIntosh Donald Ltd. 1 Aberdeen Mid Ulster Proteins Ltd. 1 Craigavon Omagh Meats Ltd. 1 Omagh P. Waddington and Company Ltd. Bradford Doncaster Exeter Nuneaton Silvertown Prosper de Mulder Ltd. 1 Widnes Peninsular Proteins Ltd. Torrington Smith Brothers (Hyde) Ltd. 1 Hyde Ulster Farm By-Products Ltd. 1 Crumlin William Forrest and Son (Paisley) Ltd. 1 Motherwell 1 Supported under TRISS 96 and TRISS 97. 2 Receiving support only under TRISS 97. The Government do not disclose information about support paid to individual renderers for reasons of commercial confidentiality (exemption 13 in the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information).
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Minister of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food (1) what representations he has received since the end of the consultation exercise on support for the rendering industry; and if he will make a statement; [20270]
(2) what assessment he has made of the adequacy of arrangements for the payment of offal subsidies paid out during 1996–97 and 1997–98; and if he will make a statement; [20276]
(3) if he will review his policy of phasing out support for disposal of mammalian bone meal and tallow; [20271]
(4) what plans he has to support the rendering industry in 1998–99; and if he will make a statement. [20269]
§ Mr. RookerThe objective of the support to the rendering industry was to avoid the disorderly collapse of the meat chain in the immediate aftermath of the BSE682W crisis. This was achieved. A wide range of industry bodies and representatives were involved in drawing up the Schemes, which were always intended to cover only the financial years 1996–97 and 1997–98, and to provide reduced support in the second year to allow the meat chain to adjust to the post BSE economic and regulatory realities.
Following the election, the Government carefully considered representations made by a wide range of interested industry bodies, from producers to renderers, before confirming the phasing out of support, which began in July. The principal reason for the decision was that the conditions last year which gave rise to the threat of collapse of the meat chain no longer exist. The support has served its purpose and there are no plans to continue the support into 1998–99.