§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has received on the legality, under EU law, of a unilateral ban on imports of European beef into the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [3793]
§ Mr. RookerWe have not sought advice on the legality of a unilateral ban on imports of European beef since we are not proposing to introduce such a ban. The announcement made on 5 June by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,Official Report, columns 227–8, related to a proposal to apply current UK controls on specified bovine material to imported as well as home produced beef.
§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what mechanisms for monitoring standards in overseas slaughterhouses his Department has evaluated in connection with its consideration of an import ban on beef from slaughterhouses not meeting United Kingdom standards; and what conclusions have been reached. [4137]
§ Mr. RookerNo import ban on beef from slaughterhouses not meeting UK standards is under consideration.
All fresh meat imported into the UK, whether from other Member States or third countries, must have been produced in accordance with harmonised Community rules laid down in Council Directive 64/433/EEC as amended, on health conditions for the production and marketing of fresh meat.
These rules require that, amongst other things, all fresh meat which is intended for human consumption fulfils the required public health standards. As far as slaughterhouses are concerned, they must be approved as meeting the requirements of the Directive and all meat leaving the slaughterhouse must bear a health mark. The inspection, approval and monitoring of slaughterhouses in third countries is the respnsibility of the European Commission. The inspection, approval and monitoring of slaughterhouses in Member States is the responsibility of the competent authority of the Member State concerned, although the Commission make on-site checks to ensure uniform application of the Directive.
352WFollowing advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee, however, and in the absence of EU wide rules on the removal and disposal of specified bovine material (SBM), we are now consulting on proposals which would mean that our requirement to remove and dispose of SBM would apply not only to cattle which have died or been slaughtered in the UK, but also to bovine material which has been imported into this country. This is not an import ban.