§ Mrs. PeacockTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [6521]
§ Mr. Douglas HoggA further report on BSE in Great Britain will be available tomorrow. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of the House at 11.00 a.m.
The report provides detailed statistics on the progress of the BSE epidemic, updated to the end of October 1995 and information about the latest EC measures for the export of beef to other member states, the new legislative controls to reinforce the measures already in place for the disposal of specified bovine offal and the announcement I made on 28 November, Official Report, columns 530–31, in which I indicated my intention to legislate to prevent the use of bovine vertebral column in the production of mechanically recovered meat. We shall shortly be making an order to effect this change, to come into force on 15 December.