§ Mr. Willie W. Hamiltonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the continued existence of sheep and lambs contaminated by radiation emanating from the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
§ Mr. Donald Thompson[pursuant to his reply, 19 February 1987, c. 1051I am pleased to say that in blue-marked sheep, all of which left the restricted areas before 22 December, levels of radioactivity have dropped substantially. Live monitoring of over 50,000 of these show an average of 111 Bq/kg. We therefore propose to lift slaughter and export restrictions on blue-marked sheep with effect from 27 February. The necessary amendments to the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (England) (No. 2) Order 1986 and the Export of Sheep (Prohibition) Order 1987 are being made.
As for further developments during 1987, my officials have written to farmers in the Cumbrian restricted area to give them our best assessment of prospects for the new lamb crop. Copies of the letter have been placed in the Library.