§ Mr. GillTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will use part of the additional £52 million at his disposal for support of the beef and veal sector to compensate holders of beef stocks made worthless by the ban on over-30-months beef. [13683]
§ Mr. Baldry[holding answer 31 January 1997]: The Government have already provided a substantial package of assistance to help UK holders of beef stocks affected by the BSE crisis. Under the beef stocks transfer scheme, introduced in May 1996, the Government offered to purchase stocks of beef held by slaughterhouses and cutting plants, for which there was no market demand, at 65 per cent. of the pre-crisis market price. In the interests of public health and market confidence, arrangements were also made to dispose of unsaleable stocks of beef and beef products outside the slaughtering sector at public expense. The total estimated expenditure under these two schemes is about £70 million. We have no plans to allocate new funds to these activities.
§ Mr. GillTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will consider compensating exporters for the stocks of beef which they have been unable to sell as a result of the export ban. [13684]
§ Mr. Baldry[holding answer 31 January 1997]: The Government sympathise with the exporters whose businesses have suffered since the BSE crisis. Some beef exporters, as cutting plants, have benefited from the beef stocks transfer scheme applying to the slaughtering sector But our support has been targeted at the essential links in the beef supply chain, not to compensate for BSE-related losses. The High Court upheld our decision to exclude other exporters from eligibility for support under the scheme. We do not intend to bring such exporters within its scope.