§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing the number of confirmed cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy for each county of England and Wales for the four-week period ended 16 January.
§ Mr. MacleanThe information is as follows:
Slaughterhouses Markets Period Reported Confirmed Reported Confirmed 21 June 1988–31 December 1988 33 27 24 16 1 January 1989–30 September 1989 73 52 57 40
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received concerning the banning of ruminant-derived protein for use as animal feed for animals other than ruminants.
§ Mr. MacleanI have received a number of representations seeking a ban on the feeding of ruminant
818W
County Number Avon 14 Berkshire 2 Buckinghamshire 3 Cambridge 3 Cheshire 19 Cleveland 3 Clwyd 5 Cornwall 81 Cumbria 16 Derbys 8 Devon 85 Dorset 83 Dyfed 20 Essex 1 Gloucestershire 21 Gwent 2 Gwynedd 1 Hampshire 24 Hereford & Worcestshire 12 Hertfordshire 4 Isle of Wight 9 Kent 11 Lancashire 12 Leicestershire 26 Lincolnshire 4 Norfolk 2 Northamptonshire 3 Northumberland 1 Nottinghamshire 6 Oxon 11 Powys 11 Shropshire 15 Somerset 60 Staffordshire 11 Suffolk 12 Surrey 6 Sussex East 8 Sussex West 13 West Midlands 1 Warwickshire 8 Wiltshire 35 Yorkshire North 23 Yorkshire South 3 Yorkshire West 1 Total 699
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what number of animals were identified at(a) slaughterhouses and (b) livestock markets and for each of 1987, 1988 and 1989 as bovine spongiform encephalopathy suspects; and how many of those subsequently were confirmed as bovine spongiform encephalopathy infected.
§ Mr. MacleanThe information is available from 21 June 1988, when BSE became a notifiable disease, up to 30 September 1989, the end of the most recent quarter for which figures are currently available.
derived protein to non-ruminants, and a number pointing out that there is, however, no scientific justification for such action.
§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he has taken to ensure that 819W foodstuffs imported into Britain do not contain the bovine offals currently banned from human consumption in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MacleanSuch measures are unnecessary as BSE has not been confirmed in any other country except the Republic of Ireland, where the incidence is too low to justify a similar ban.