§ Mr. Martenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will make a statement on the costs being incurred on the export of hen meat to Holland due to the imposition of three days' supervision by veterinarians at £11.50 per hour in respect of one day's production amounting to 11p per pound.
§ Mr. StrangI am aware of one case in which costs of this order were incurred. I understand that there were exceptional circumstances and expect that, once a regular working pattern is established, costs to the company concerned should be considerably less. There should be further reductions when sufficient poultry meat inspectors are available to assist with this work.
§ Mr. Martenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether, in the light of the rules of EEC competition, the Dutch Government are paying the costs of inspection of poultry meat up to August 1979; and what costs are being borne by British firms, such as St. Ives Food Products.
§ Mr. StrangFrom the limited information available to me, I understand this to be the position in the Netherlands. In Great Britain the effect of the decision announced on 30th June is that the Government will meet half the costs of introducing the poultry meat inspection service. The compatibility of State aids with the rules of EEC competition policy is primarily a matter for the EEC Commission.—[Vol. 952, co.701–2.]
§ Mr. Martenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether it 286W is necessary for fully qualified veterinary surgeons to supervise the packing and unpacking of cartons of poultry meat which has already been inspected by another veterinary surgeon at a cost of £11.50 per hour.
§ Mr. StrangI assume that the hon. Member has in mind a situation where poultry meat, which has been certified for export, is subsequently unpacked for some further processing and then repacked. In these circumstances, supervision is necessary to ensure that the meat retains its export status and is not exposed to contamination or substituted. The actual supervision can be carried out by a poultry meat inspector provided the overall responsibility remains with the official veterinary surgeon.
§ Mr. Martenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to ensure that standards of inspection in Great Britain for poultry meat are not more onerous than those applied by other EEC countries.
§ Mr. StrangI refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Oswestry (Mr. Biffen) on 29th June 1978.—[Vol. 952, c.684.]
§ Mr. Jim Spicerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which EEC Governments, apart from the United Kingdom, are not contributing to the costs of poultry meat inspection during the transitional period up to August 1979.
§ Mr. StrangAs far as this country is concerned, I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Mr. Corbett) on 30th June 1978. As regards other EEC countries, the information available is not complete enough to allow a definite answer to be given.—[Vol. 952, c.701–2.]