§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions for importing illegal meat have been carried out under hygiene regulations in each of the last five years. [45384]
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§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 25 March 2002]: There have been no prosecutions for illegal meat imports under the hygiene regulations. There have so far been two bushmeat prosecutions in the UK. The first of these, in early 2001, found the defendant not guilty of CITES offences but guilty of failing to comply with the animal health controls on entry to the EU. The second prosecution in June 2001, found two defendants guilty of CITES offences and they both received four-month prison sentences.
§ Adam PriceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her Department's calculations are of the tonnage of illegal meat imported to the UK in each of the last three years. [50450]
§ Mr. MorleyRecords for the last three years are not held centrally. We are notified of seizures of illegal imports by the Port Health Authorities, LACORS (was LACOTS) and Customs. Since April 2001, we have been notified of seizures amounting to around 51 tonnes of animal products and some plants, of which approximately 34 tonnes relates to consignments which contained more than one type of produce. A more detailed breakdown of these mixed consignments is not held centrally. The weight of meat only consignments seized in this period is about 894 kilos.
As announced in our Action Plan of 28 March, we are undertaking a risk assessment to determine the possibility of meat, infected with an exotic disease, entering the country undetected and then threatening the health of our livestock.