§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many representations he has received on the new controls relating to sheep scab; and how many of these representations are critical of the self-regulatory nature of the controls.
§ Mr. MacleanThe Department has received a number of representations about the self-certification arrangements which applied during last autumn's compulsory national dip for sheep scab and all contained some criticisms of the move to owner declarations by farmers.
We have completed our assessment of the 1990 national dip and the success of the self-certification arrangements and it is clear that large numbers of owner declarations were not returned to local authorities at the end of the dipping period, as required by the legislation. All comments from interested organisations on the national dip have been carefully considered and, as a result, we have decided to streamline the arrangements to apply during this year's compulsory national dip for sheep scab which will take place during the period Sunday 22 September to Saturday 2 November.
The requirement in the Sheep Scab (National Dip) Order 1990 for undipped sheep moved during the dipping period to be accompanied by an owner declaration will be dropped. This will reduce the number of forms that farmers are required to complete and will scale down the involvement of market authorities in countersigning forms at markets.
I hope that the Government's positive response to suggestions from those involved in the national dip on how to improve the arrangements will result in greater commitment from the industry on sheep scab control measures. Last year's response was disappointing and we shall be looking for a much better response from farmers this year on the completion of owner declarations.