§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many veterinary surgeons are employed in the United Kingdom from(a) Spain and (b) other EEC countries to advise on and enforce the Meat and Hygiene Regulations and to supervise at abattoirs; [22187]
(2) how many British veterinary surgeon are employed in other EEC countries to advise on and enforce the Meat and Hygiene Regulations and to supervise at abattoirs. [22158]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 2 May 1995]: Records are not held centrally of the nationality or country of origin of all the veterinary surgeons employed in the UK at meat premises. However, in Great Britain it is known that the Meat Hygiene Service directly employs two veterinary surgeons with German nationality who transferred to MHS when it took over responsibility for 316W this work from local authorities on 1 April. The MHS also contracts with private veterinary practices for the provision of veterinary supervision at meat premises. As was the case when local authorities were responsible for this work, it is known that a small number of these veterinary practices employ a few veterinary surgeons who are not of British nationality.
We have no information about the numbers of British veterinary surgeons employed in other EEC countries.