HC Deb 20 May 1985 vol 79 cc350-1W
Sir Peter Mills

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many consignments of imported poultrymeat have been refused entry because of excessive water content in 1984, 1983 and 1982.

Mrs. Fenner

There is no legal requirement that imported consignments of frozen chicken which do not comply with the water content regulations should be refused entry. Instead, importers have the option of labelling the birds to indicate that the water content exceeds permitted EC levels, of having them processed, or of returning them to the consignor. Since January 1983, when the regulations were first implemented in the United Kingdom, a total of 10 imported consignments have been notified to my Department as exceeding permitted water content levels.