HC Deb 12 March 1990 vol 169 cc85-6W
Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the registration fee levied on all poultry laying flock keepers who are required to register has not yet been determined.

Mr. Maclean

The Poultry Flocks, Hatcheries and Processed Animal Protein (Fees) Order 1990 was laid before the House on 9 March.

Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the registration fee levied on all poultry flock keepers who are required to register will accrue to his Ministry.

Mr. Maclean

The registration of poultry laying flocks is being carried out by Agriculture Departments and so they will recover the associated costs.

Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why only larger flocks of poultry laying hens have to be registered.

Mr. Maclean

The resources for enforcing the salmonella legislation need to be concentrated particularly on flocks of 100 birds or more, which together supply over 98 per cent. of the eggs produced in this country. Flocks under this size are not required to be registered but the owners are subject to checks to ensure that they are meeting the salmonella testing requirements, which apply to all flocks from which eggs are sold for human consumption.

Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the Government will allocate any additional resources to enable local authorities to enforce the Poultry Laying Flocks (Testing and Registration Etc.) Order 1989.

Mr. Maclean

The resources needed for this work will be taken into account in future decisions on local authority funding.

Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how successful the Poultry Laying Flocks (Testing and Registration Etc.) Order 1989 has been in providing a system of maintaining hens producing eggs for human consumption and in setting hygienic standards for handling and storage of eggs on farms.

Mr. Maclean

It is too early to judge the success of these new controls some of which came into effect last October, while the remainder become effective from 2 April 1990.