§ Mr. GardinerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what advice has been issued to ethnic minority communities by the Food Standards Agency about the risk posed to human health through the consumption of(a) illegal meat imports and (b) bushmeat. [155388]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonResponsibility for raising public awareness of the issue of illegal imports lies with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. In terms of advice specifically targeted towards ethnic minority communities, the FSA has discussed the issue of illegal meat imports with its Muslim organisations working group and has subsequently spoken on this topic at seminars organised by the Muslim community. These have included, most recently, talks at the Husaini Cultural Centre in Peterborough in September 2003 and also at Haringey Mosque and the Islamic Cultural Centre in London in November 2003.
Defra has commissioned the Central Office of Information to undertake research in this area. The research phase of the project is currently under way and the results of this research will then be used to inform publicity campaigns among ethnic minority communities later in the year.
The scope of the research includes examining attitudes among these communities to imports of meat, including bushmeat, and the possible risks to both animal and human health.
The FSA and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise are involved in this project, as are stakeholders such as the Greater London Authority, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Bushmeat Campaign, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services.