§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make it her policy to grant notifiable livestock disease status to sheep scab; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SoamesMost of the detailed measures on the control of sheep scab were removed by the repeal of secondary legislation in July 1992. The Government have already announced that they intend to use the deregulation order making powers in the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill, if enacted, to complete this process by amending the Animal Health Act 1981 to remove(a) the powers of Ministers to make orders under it on the periodic treatment of sheep scab and (b) the obligation on farmers to notify outbreaks of sheep scab. We propose to achieve the second point by removing sheep scab from the definition of "disease" in the Act.
78WI have no other plans to require the notification of sheep scab.