HL Deb 05 April 1990 vol 517 cc1617-8WA
Lord North

field asked Her Majesty's Government:

What further amendments, particularly concerning deer and venison, they are pressing the European Commission to make to the draft regulation on game meat, whether they are satisfied in detail with the derogations as at present drafted; and which other member states support their position.

Baronesss Trumpington

The European Commission published its formal proposal for a regulation on rabbit and game meat in December 1989. Early drafts produced by the Commission failed to take adequate account of the circumstances under which wild game meat is produced but in negotiations the following improvements, now reflect in the proposal, were secured:

  1. (i) provision for farmed deer to be shot in the field;
  2. (ii) concessions for small scale local marketing of meat from farmed game which would avoid the need for inspection and production in approved premises;
  3. (iii) provision for the marketing of wild game meat in small quantities without the need for inspection and production in approved premises;
  4. (iv) provision for trade in uneviscerated and unskinned small game, including birds in feather, and unskinned large game;
  5. (v) provision for extension beyond 24 hours of the time limit between the shooting of wild game and inspection;
  6. (vi) provision for sample inspections of uneviscerated small wild game rather than every carcase.

The proposal is still subject to parliamentary scrutiny procedure and consultation with interested parties The Government will determine what further changes should be sought when these processes have been completed.

Discussions in the Council of Ministers have not commenced and it is not yet clear what position other member states are likely to take.