Mr. WRIGHTasked the Minister of Agriculture the quantity of wheat grown
58Wmanner as an embargo had been put on against the importation of meat from the Continent; and, if not, what were the reasons for having one practice in regard to one country and a different one in respect to another?
§ Mr. N. BUXTONI am aware that in the case of the initial outbreak of the series referred to by my hon. Friend it was found that the affected animals, which were pigs, had been fed with unboiled swill, in contravention of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease (Boiling of Animals Foodstuffs) Order, an offence for which the owner concerned was convicted and fined. The meat contained in the swill had been imported from three sources—New Zealand, Australia and South America. No definite proof was obtained that infection had actually been introduced by means of these meat scraps, and in these circumstances the question of imposing an embargo did not arise.