§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
- (a) what are the numbers of meat plants which export meat into the United Kingdom from the European Community; and
- (b) how often European Union veterinarians inspect these plants. [HL3762]
§ Lord WhittyInformation about the number of meat plants in the EU from which meat is sent directly to the UK is not readily available. Community legislation requires member states to submit a list of approved establishments to other member states and the Commission. However, only lists for the countries below are available on the European Commission's website.
While these plants are eligible to send meat to the UK, they may not necessarily be doing so.
14WA
Country Approximate number of plants approved to trade with other member states Belgium 1,797 Denmark 1838 Finland 551 France 18,784
Country Approximate number of plants approved to trade with other member states Germany 3,336 Greece 1335 Italy 16,784 Republic of Ireland 279 Spain 7,488 Sweden 1776 1 Some premises may be listed more than once because they perform more than one function. There is nothing laid down in Community legislation about the frequency of checks of premises by EU veterinarians. Community legislation requires that experts from the Commission may "in so far as is necessary" for the uniform application of the relevant legislation and in co-operation with the competent authorities "make on-site checks". To do this, they may verify by checking a representative percentage of production plants whether the competent authorities are in a uniform manner ensuring that such plants are complying with the provisions of the directive.
Commission veterinary inspection reports are available on the following website: http:// www.europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/inspections/vi/reports/index en.htm