§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what dates action was taken to ban the feeding of ruminant remains to ruminant animals(a) in the United Kingdom, (b) in other European Union countries and (c) in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. [17661]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe feeding of ruminant protein to ruminants was prohibited in Great Britain in 1988 and in Northern Ireland in 1989. Community decision 94/381 of 27 June 1994 required all member states to ban the feeding of mammalian protein to ruminants. In member states with a system which makes it possible to distinguish between protein from ruminant and non-ruminant species—such as Denmark—the ban is limited to the feeding of ruminant proteins to ruminants. We do not have detailed information on legislation in place in all of the member states but are aware that Ireland introduced a ban on feeding mammalian protein to ruminants on 13 August 1990, that is, before Community decision 94/381. We do not have information on the controls introduced by all OECD members. However, we do know that Switzerland prohibited the feeding of ruminant protein to ruminants in December 1990. Canada is proposing to introduce a ban on feeding mammalian proteins to mammals, and the USA is proposing a ban on feeding ruminant proteins to ruminants.