§ Mr. Ron DaviesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many Ministry-approved quarantine stations are owned or managed by importers or traders in wildlife.
§ Mr. MacleanAll Ministry-approved quarantine premises, whether for foot and mouth disease, rabies or Newcastle disease, are privately owned, but information as to owners/ownership is not available in the precise form requested. However, in 1990, the Ministry approved 137 premises in England for the quarantine of small mammals, other than domestic dogs and cats, imported under the rabies import controls. In the same year the Ministry issued a total of 644 import licences in respect of consignments of captive birds to be landed in England. In594W each case the quarantine premises would have been subject to prior inspection and approval by the Ministry before the issue of a licence. Some of the bird quarantine premises will have been used, and thus approved, more than once during 1990.