§ Mr. GillTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to make meat and poultry inspection standards and charges universal throughout the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. MacleanI, along with other Agriculture and Health Ministers, commissioned in April a detailed study of the costs and benefits of alternative methods of providing day-to-day meat inspection and hygiene control in fresh meat, poultry meat and game plants in Great Britain.
The study has now been completed and my colleagues and I will be carefully considering the results. We expect to announce our decision early in the autumn. In making decisions on future enforcement arrangements a number of factors will need to be taken into account, including the ability of the enforcement system to ensure evenness of standards and consistency of charges throughout the country.