§ Mr. HagueTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the spreading on land of protein material derived from specified bovine offal.
§ Mr. GummerThe specified offals may not be used in human or animal feed, and therefore normal commercial outlets have disappeared for the small quantity of material resulting when these offals are rendered—some 25,000 to 30,000 tonnes per year, out of the rendering industry's total annual output of some 400,000 tonnes of protein material.
The Government asked the Tyrrell committee to advise on its possible use as a fertiliser. The committee's view was that it should not be used. The risk of the agent being present or transmitted was remote, but it was better to be super-safe. There were alternative means of disposal — burning, burial or use as fuel. So on balance it would be wise not to use material derived from specified offal as fertiliser.
It is therefore intended to make an order under the Animal Health Act to require that the protein material obtained from specified bovine offal should be disposed of either on licenced landfill sites, by incineration, or by such other means as may be licensed by the agriculture Departments.