HL Deb 10 February 1988 vol 493 cc306-8WA
Lord Stanley of Alderley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they accept the conclusions of the report of the Priorities Board for Research and Development in Agriculture and Food that (a) present methods of certification of lambs had failed to satisfy public demand and (b) visual liveweight grading of lambs had proved inaccurate; and, if so, whether they plan to phase out liveweight grading.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Trumpington)

The noble Lord is referring to a report to the Priorities Board for Research and Development in Agriculture and Food written by the Sheep Research Consultative Committee. The priorities board has yet to complete its assessment of the RCC's recommendations, one of which was that research should be undertaken on the development of mechanised means to assist the assessment of fat depth and leanness in both the live animal and the carcase. Research is already under way at the Institute of Food Research in Bristol to develop objective methods of measurement.

We would not accept that the current certification techniques for lambs, designed for the purpose of establishing entitlement to variable premium, have failed to satisfy public demand. They encourage the production and marketing of good quality lambs, particularly through the fat standards, which we adjusted in January 1986 in response to the COMA report. Nor do we have plans to phase out the liveweight grading option available to producers.