§ Mr. Biffenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the ingredients currently used in animal feeding stuffs which will become illegal if the draft Common Market regulations on undesirable substances in animal feed are implemented in their present form.
§ Mrs. FennerA draft EEC directive prescribes maximum levels in feed ingredients of certain substances which are potentially harmful to animals or humans. No ingredients currently used in animal feeding stuffs would be entirely excluded if the draft were to be adopted in its present form. However, if a feed ingredient contained any listed substance in an amount which exceeded the prescribed limit it would be illegal to use it as a straight feeding stuff or to include it in compound feeds in a proportion likely to result in the limit being exceeded. Discussions on the proposed limits and on the draft directive as a whole are continuing.
§ Mr. Biffenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the estimated additional cost of animal feed compounds for British farmers consequent on the implementation of draft Common Market regulations on limiting permissible ingredients and on labelling.
§ Mrs. FennerA draft EEC directive relating to the marketing of animal feeding stuffs is still under discussion and subject to amendment. Any estimate of additional cost would, therefore, be speculative. All the implications, including the purchaser's need for information and the cost of providing it, are being taken into account.