§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much has been spent on telephone charges and how many telephone calls have been made by his Department for each of the last five years.
§ Mr. JackDepartmental charges for telephone for years 1989–94 are:
subject to statutory requirements designed to ensure that the welfare of animals is properly protected.
We have pressed hard in the Community negotiations for tough controls, enforceable in all member states, on feeding and watering intervals and journey times. It is disappointing that a number of member states, mostly from the south of the Community, have so far blocked any improvements to the package of measures which the United Kingdom and others opposed as inadequate last June. However, in the light of the lack of progress at Community level, a new order has been made, to come into force on 23 January 1995, to help tighten up enforcement of the national requirements on journey plans, through which we safeguard the welfare of animals in transit pending the adoption of Community measures.