§ Mrs. BallardTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the risk to public health from hunt kennels which are assessed to be unsatisfactory under the BSE enforcement programme. [5669]
§ Mr. RookerNo formal assessment has been made of any possible risk to public health arising from failings identified during State Veterinary Service (SVS) audits of the controls under the Specified Bovine Material (SBM) Order 1997. Hunt kennels are required to remove SBM from the carcases of fallen stock which they take from farms and stain and dispatch it under controlled conditions for eventual rendering or incineration. Failings identified by the SVS have related to items such as inadequate staining, storage or record-keeping. These do not pose a risk to public health. Nevertheless immediate remedial action is required to be taken by the operator in all cases, and is subject to a further unannounced visit by the SVS shortly afterwards to check that it has been carried out. Hunt kennels are not permitted to sell for human consumption any of the remainder of the meat recovered from carcases. This is for feeding to the hounds only.