HC Deb 02 March 1995 vol 255 cc704-5W
Mr. Morley

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 23 January,Official Report column 71, if any of the 6,314 cattle exported for immediate slaughter to Northern Ireland were over six months of age; and how many of them subsequently went from Northern Ireland to another EU state;

(2) pursuant to his answer of 12 January, Official Report, column 210, and 23 January, Official Report, column 71, if the 6,662 cattle exported for immediate slaughter were all under six months of age.

Mrs. Browning

Information on the age of the 6,314 cattle exported to Northern Ireland is available only at disproportionate cost. There is no recorded evidence of movement of these cattle to another member state.

Information entered into the ANIMO database is provisional and subject to amendment. As regards the remainder of the 6,662 cattle referred to, more detailed comparison of the ANIMO database with copies of the available export health certificates has revealed that the 83 cattle exported to France and originally recorded as being for immediate slaughter were, in fact, certified as calves of under 42 days of age, and thus most likely destined for further production; the 233 animals exported to the Netherlands were certified as calves of less than six months of age; and the 32 cattle exported to the Republic of Ireland originated in the Netherlands, were being transhipped through Great Britain, and should therefore not have been entered into ANIMO as exported from Britain.

Mr. Olner

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if provision was made for the individual feeding of calves during the shipment of calves from Brightlingsea to Nieuwpoort, Belgium on 10 February; how many of the crew were trained in the handling and/or feeding of animals; and if his Ministry vets treated the ship as a floating lairage.

Mrs. Browning

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Glanford and Scunthorpe (Mr. Morley) on 23 February,Official Report, column 311. The veterinary officer accompanying the shipment confirms that there was an experienced animal attendant accompanying the calves who supervised their on-board feeding. The ship was a fitted livestock vessel with satisfactory arrangements for the penning of the calves so that all could like down and rest during the voyage.