§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on behalf of small slaughterhouses since 1 October; and what measures he proposes to enable such businesses to survive in the single European market.
§ Mr. GummerMany right hon. and hon. Members have written to me about small slaughterhouses.
The Government welcomes the EC fresh meat directive 91/497 which will ensure that all meat traded in the single market is produced to common standards of hygiene and inspection—standards which have applied for almost 30 years to meat moving in international trade. It is high time for the same standards to be applied to meat intended for our domestic market.
The single market hygiene legislation is not intended to destroy traditional small businesses, which play an important part in the rural economy. My Department has taken a number of steps to ensure that this directive can be implemented sensibly and without imposing unnecessary burdens. During the EC negotiations, we secured agreement that very small abattoirs did not need to comply with all the detailed structural requirements and that all meat premises would be eligible for temporary derogations of up to three years from 1 January 1993 to enable them to upgrade their premises to meet the new standards.
The Agriculture Departments, as licensing authorities, have made arrangements for all operators to receive advice on what is required, and for ensuring consistent and sensible decisions on licensing. Our veterinary field staff have been instructed to be flexible and realistic in seeking solutions to structural and hygiene problems.
As a further safeguard, I have asked two independent experts in meat hygiene to assess hygiene standards in a small cross-section of plants and to advise whether the improvements being required exceed what is necessary to rectify structure-related hygiene problems.
My Department has this week issued further guidance to local authorities on the provision of veterinary supervision at slaughterhouses. This guidance, which has been placed in the Library, should reduce the estimated cost of the inspection service substantially at some plants. My Department believes that the cost to the industry as a whole should be reduced by some £2 million, compared with estimates made by independent consultants on behalf of MAFF earlier this year.
Local authorities have considerable flexibility to arrange provision of the inspection service in the way which is most appropriate to their local circumstances subject to the overriding need to achieve adequate veterinary supervision. Pending transfer of responsibility for meat inspection to the proposed national meat hygiene service, I shall monitor inspection charges very closely, and will continue to encourage plant operators to discuss with their local authority any possible options for reducing costs. Local authorities have discretion to recover less than the full cost of the inspection service if they so choose, provided the amount recovered complies with the relevant EC legislation. In the longer term, the national meat hygiene service will be required to provide an efficient and cost-effective service to the industry.
Despite all these measures, I am aware that there remains considerable concern about the impact of the new 224W legislation on small slaughterhouses. This concern is not confined to the United Kingdom, and I am therefore arranging for the December Council of Agriculture Ministers to consider whether any further action at Community level is required to safeguard small traditional slaughtering businesses.