§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action the Government have taken to tackle European foul brood disease; and what estimate she has made of its prevalence in England. [42378]
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§ Mr. MorleyThe Government assist the UK beekeeping sector by funding a range of measures to protect bee health, costing around £1.6 million in 2001–02. In England, the bee health programme costs some £1.3 million annually, and is administered by the National Bee Unit (NBU), part of the Central Science Laboratory.
European foul brood (EFB) is a notifiable disease under the Bee Diseases Control Order 1982. All new suspected cases have to be reported. In 2001, 816 colonies in 350 apiaries in England were found to be infected with EFB. Colonies too heavily infected to respond to treatment are destroyed. Lightly infected colonies are treated with antibiotic by field inspectors of the NBU.
In addition, NBU has been conducting trials for the long-term control of the disease without the need for destruction of bees. The results to date are encouraging. The Department is also funding research under its Horticulture LINK programme to develop a method of biological control of EFB. The NBU also provides regional and national training in good husbandry, disease recognition and control for all beekeepers in England.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what action she is taking(a) to promote British honey and (b) to publicise the safety and quality of the British product; [42382]
(2) what action she plans to promote the sale of locally produced British honey direct from beekeepers. [42383]
§ Mr. MorleyThe promotion of locally produced British honey is a matter for the industry itself. However, honey producers are able to benefit form the trade development and marketing services provided by the regional food groups which the Department supports through Food from Britain. Honey producers may also be eligible for grants under the England Rural Development Programme (ERDP). Two measures are of particular relevance to them. These are the Rural Enterprise Scheme measure on the marketing of quality agricultural products, which provides largely non-capital grants for marketing initiatives, and the Processing and Marketing Grant which provides capital grants for processing and marketing facilities. These grants are run competitively on a regional basis.
The safety and quality of British honey is a matter for the Food Standards Agency.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of honey sold in the UK is imported; and what proportion comes from China. [42381]
§ Mr. MorleyThe table shows UK supply and imports of honey between 1999 and 2001. It also shows the proportion of total UK imports that came from China during this period.
Tonnes 1999 2000 2001 UK supply 26,299 25,514 27,603 Total imports 23,181 24,108 25,279 Total imports as a percentage of UK supply 88 94 92 Imports from China 10,400 11,044 10,640 Imports from China as a percentage of total imports 45 46 42 Source:
HM Customs and Excise and DEFRA Supply Balance Sheets
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§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what steps her Department has taken in the last five years to destroy honey that has been found to have a significant risk of being contaminated by antibiotics and other dangerous substances; [42380]
(2) what checks are made on imported honey to ensure it is free of contaminations. [42379]
§ Mr. MorleyAll consignments of products of animal origin, including honey, currently imported from third countries into the UK are subjected to a documentary check of the veterinary certification and an identity check to match the goods to the certification. A percentage of consignments are also subjected to a physical check, which may include organoleptic checks, temperature checks and laboratory tests for pathogens or contaminants. In the case of honey 50 per cent. of consignments are so checked.
Where import checks reveal that any product of animal origin does not comply with Community import conditions it is rejected or destroyed. Figures relating to products destroyed are not kept centrally.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate has been sampling honey on sale since 1995. No samples contained residues of antibiotics or other substances which posed a significant risk to consumers. Therefore, no honey was required to be destroyed. All results have been reported in the VMD Annual Report on Residue Surveillance and its quarterly newsletter, MAVIS.
Following a recent European Commission inspection visit to China, which revealed concerns about antibiotic residues, the EU has banned the importation of all animal products from China with effect from 13 March 2002. As a result the FSA carried out tests on a number of samples of Chinese and blended honey on sale in the UK. They found that most contained antibiotic residues, but at a level which scientific experts do not consider poses a risk to public health.