§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals have been made by the EU Veterinary Committee about de-boning beef in slaughter houses(a) for the domestic market and (b) for export; and what impact these proposals will have on progress towards the restoration of beef exports from Britain. [57482]
§ Mr. RookerThe European Commission has made a proposal for the export of UK beef and beef products from animals born after 1 August 1996 (the 'Date Based Export Scheme'). On the advice of the EC Scientific Steering Committee, the scheme is restricted to deboned beef. The original proposal also required all beef sold on the domestic market to be deboned but a revised proposal no longer contains this provision. That proposal received the support of a simple majority of Member States at the684W Standing Veterinary Committee on 4 November. Since it did not obtain a qualified majority, it has now been referred to the Council, who are expected to vote on it on 23 November.