§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what analysis he has made of the results of mortality studies, and his review of the legal powers available to Her Majesty's Government, in relation to import arrangements for wild caught birds.
§ Mr. MacleanWith the assistance of the RSPCA, we have made a preliminary analysis of the statistics for the two years for which data are available. The results show some correlation between mortality of individual species, which suggests that in principle the data can be used to assist in deciding whether a species is particularly vulnerable to captivity.
Discussions with the Department of the Environment are continuing on further restrictions and the powers which may best be used to implement them.