§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Leyton, 16 March,Official Report, column 352, if he will list each food item, and the quantity of it, destroyed during 1988 under the European Community arrangements in all the Community countries.
§ Mr. RyderThe latest figures relating to fruit and vegetables withdrawn from the market are for the 1986–87 season and are set out in EC Commission working documents. From these it is possible to derive the following figures for produce which became unfit for consumption before reaching its destination:
pasteurella My Department is still receiving reports, all of which will need to be investigated in detail before reliable conclusions can be reached on this matter. These vaccines have been very widely used in the national flock for many years and the reports so far received concern a small percentage of ewes vaccinated. We shall be looking particularly carefully at the nutritional levels in ewes, following the mild winter, and at the incidence of other diseases in the flocks affected.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information his Department possesses about the effectiveness of vaccination schemes against foot and mouth disease and clinical swine fever.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe role of vaccines has been carefully assessed at frequent intervals. Vaccination can be an effective means of controlling foot and mouth disease and classical swine fever where there are significant disease problems. When the number of cases has been reduced eradication by a slaughter policy is a better and ultimately cheaper option than routine vaccination.