§ Mr. HarveyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what charges are made to importers of meat products to cover the expenses of health and hygiene inspections; and what assessment he has made of the impact of these charges on competition in the United Kingdom market between domestic and imported products. [33002]
§ Mr. RookerCouncil Directive 85/73/EEC, as amended, lays down minimum fees for veterinary checks at Border Inspection Posts (BIPs) on fresh meat and meat products imported into the Community from third countries. At present, for imports from all countries other than New Zealand, the minimum fee is 5 ECU a tonne and 30 ECU per consignment. The real costs of inspections are charged to importers, by the local authorities responsible for the BIPs, where these exceed the minimum fee. For New Zealand, in accordance with the Veterinary Equivalence Agreement between the EC and New Zealand, standard fees of 1.5 ECU a tonne and 30 ECU per consignment apply.
Directive 85/73/EEC also requires Member States to recover the costs of those hygiene inspections conducted at licensed fresh meat premises in accordance with harmonised EC meat hygiene rules. The Directive lays down standard charges (in ECUs) for hygiene inspections of red meat, poultry meat and game meat. Where the actual costs of inspection exceeds the standard charge, the Directive provides for actual costs to be charged. Thus both imported and domestically produced fresh meat is subject to hygiene inspection to ensure compliance with 164W EC rules before being placed on the market, for which a harmonised fee is charged, in accordance with Directive 85/73/EEC.