HC Deb 18 May 1989 vol 153 cc294-5W
Mr. Ron Davies

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of Friday 5 May,Official Report, column 279, what additional certification accompanying meat and bone meal exported from the United Kingdom is required by France, West Germany and Israel; what arrangements have been agreed for use by exporters of meat and bone meal to France; what requirements have been stipulated by Israel; and what assurances have been sought by West Germany.

Mr. Donald Thompson

France and West Germany have requested confirmation of heat treatment in accordance with their requirements. This certification can be provided. Germany and Israel have asked for clearance from BSE which can be supplied. Israel has also asked for freedom from scrapie and we are entering into discussions with the Israeli authorities on a form of assurances which would be acceptable.

Mr. Ron Davies

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Caerphilly, of 5 May,Official Report, column 279, whether he knows of any plans by the European Commission to introduce rules applying to the production of meat and bone meal.

Mr. Donald Thompson

Commission proposals for a Council regulation laying down veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste are currently being discussed in Brussels.

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 l1989
Chief veterinary officer 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Grade 3 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Grade 4 8.0 (1) 8.0 (1) 70 (1) 70 (1) 70 (1) 6.0 (1) 7.0 (1) 7.0 (1) 70 (1) 70 (1)
Grade 5 23.0 23.0 22.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 20.0 17.0 (1) 15.0 (1) 17.0 (1)
Grade 6 15.0 14.0 14.0 14.0 15.0 13.0 11.0 11.0 11.0 12.0
Deputy regional veterinary officer 24.0 (8) 22.0 (6) 22.0 (6) 22.0 (6) 21.0 (6) 23.0 (6) 13.0 (3) 12.0 (2) 13.0 (3) 14.0 (3)
Divisional veterinary officer 128.0 (23) 128.0 (22) 125.0 (24) 129.0 (23) 129.0 (24) 121.0 (22) 115.0 (24) 99.0 (19) 93.0 (19) 91.0 (19)
Veterinary officer 298.0 (58) 286.0 (58) 287.0 (61) 285.5 (62) 2820 (61) 274.0 (57) 274.0 (58) 257.0 (53) 244.0 (52) 247.5 (49)
Senior research officer grade II 44.0 43.0 42.0 39.0 40.0 36.0 41.0 40.0 37.0 33.0
Veterinary research officer 35.5 36.5 35.0 28.5 23.5 30.5 22.5 18.5 21.5 14.5
Senior animal health officer 77.0 74.0 70.0 71.0 72.0 71.0 68.0 49.0 48.0 45.0
Animal health officer 162.0 150.0 139.0 129.0 128.0 127.0 126.0 120.0 123.5 122.5
Note.—Figures in brackets relate to the veterinary investigation service, which is part of the state veterinary service.
1 The 1989 figures include staff of the professional unit of the veterinary medicines directorate, who prior to 3 April 1989 belonged to the state veterinary service.

Dr. David Clark

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what additional resources have been provided for the state veterinary service in order to accommodate the increased workload resulting from bovine spongiform encephalopathy and salmonella.

Mr. Donald Thompson

Seventy four additional posts have been approved to deal with salmonellosis; consideration is still being given to the additional requirements for dealing with BSE.

£'000
1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
Pay 1 1 19,644 22,316 21,823 24,805
Non-pay 1 1 5,525 7,343 7,594 9,565
Capital 1 1 605 1,086 775 966
1 DBC not applied: no separate date available.

Note:

Figures ar not comparable year by year because of changes in the coverage in the service's decentralised budget.

Dr. David Clark

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what are his estimates of the additional number of veterinary surgeons needed by his Department following the completion of the European Community internal market in 1992;

(2) what steps he is taking to ensure that the state veterinary service is adequately staffed to deal with