§ Mr. FINNEYasked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been drawn to resolutions passed unanimously by a meeting of the North Staffordshire Butchers Retailers' Association, Stoke-on-Trent, indicating that, consequent upon the embargo on Canadian store cattle, and the high prices being demanded for fresh meat, very many working-class people are unable to purchase adequate supplies for themselves 1684W and their families, and that the necessities of the people require the removal of the embargo; and whether he can indicate the steps he has taken or proposes to take in the matter?
Sir A. BOSCAWENThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. I do not agree that the removal of the embargo would result in cheap fresh meat for the working classes, and I would point out that the Royal Commission on the Importation of Canadian Cattle held out no such hope.
§ Lieut.-Colonel HILDERasked the Minister of Agriculture whether a special embargo is placed on the importation of live Canadian cattle into the United Kingdom; and is the importation from abroad of all cattle subjected to certain quarantine restrictions?
Sir A. BOSCAWENThe reply to the first part of the question is in the negative. The embargo, which is laid down by the provisions of the Diseases of Animals Acts, 1894 and 1896, is a general one, applicable alike to all countries outside the United Kingdom. With regard to the last part, under the existing law all cattle landed from abroad are required either to be slaughtered at the port of landing or, in the exceptional cases when entry is allowed, to be detained in quarantine for a period prescribed in each case by the Ministry.