§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are the penalties for 275W contravening the regulations preventing specified bovine offal entering the food chain; and how many prosecutions there have been to date. [22942]
§ Mrs. BrowningThe penalties which would apply on summary conviction for a contravention of the controls in the Specified Bovine Offal Order 1995, as amended, which prevent SBO entering the food chain, are a fine of up to £5,000 and where appropriate a further fine of up to £1,000 for each 508 kg of SBO, beyond the initial 508 kg of SBO, in respect of which the offence is committed. Furthermore, a person who has been convicted for contravening the provisions of the SBO Order is liable in the court's discretion on a further conviction for a second or subsequent offence against the order to imprisonment for a term of up to one month in lieu of the applicable fine.
To date, there is one case before the court. A number of other cases are under investigation.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce an eradication scheme for BSE. [23382]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: This Department has been taking steps to eradicate BSE since July 1988, when the ruminant feed ban was introduced. This has resulted in a substantial decline in the number of cases, which is now less than one third of the rate at the height of the epidemic.
§ Sir Wyn RobertsTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the measures necessary to eradicate BSE. [23383]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: BSE is believed to have been caused by cattle consuming contaminated feed containing infected bovine or ovine material. Preventing the recycling of such material in feed should prevent cattle being exposed to the BSE agent and so becoming infected. A ban on the feeding of ruminant protein to ruminants was introduced in 1988. Unfortunately, some leakage in this ban has occurred and a number of measures have been taken over the past few years to strengthen the controls. The total prohibition on the inclusion of mammalian meat and bonemeal in all feed for farm animals and fertiliser for use on farms, which has just been introduced, should prevent any further infection of cattle by BSE material in feed, and eradicate BSE from the national herd.
§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he intends to make to the European Commission and the Council of Ministers on measures to improve the methods used by other member states to detect BSE in their cattle herds. [23149]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: BSE is notifiable in all member states. Suspect cases are examined by a state veterinarian for clinical signs of the disease, and slaughtered and destroyed if BSE is believed to exist. The diagnosis is confirmed by examination of brain tissue after death, using protocols which are internationally agreed and validated.
§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects the research commissioned by his Department into(a) maternal and (b) lateral transmission of BSE to be reported. [23201]
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§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: The detailed cohort study into the possibility of maternal transmission of BSE will not be complete until early 1997. Some information about this experiment has been published in the progress report on BSE laid in the Library of the House in November 1995, but the result cannot be interpreted until it is complete. A report of earlier experiments on maternal and lateral transmission of BSE was published in the "Veterinary Record", volume 136, pages 312-318 of 1 April 1995, details of which were given in the progress report laid in the Library of the House in May 1995.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the incidence if BSE in England and Wales by(a) type of herd, (b) age of herd and (c) region. [23363]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: As at 22 April 1996, 64.61 per cent. of all dairy herds had had at least one case of BSE and 15.95 per cent. of all beef herds.
As at 22 April 1996, the proportion of herds in each region in England and Wales which had had at least one case of BSE was:
Per cent. East Anglia 40.3 East midlands 35.3 North 31.48 North-west 48.16 South-east 44.59 South-west 48.8 West midlands 40.74 Yorks/Humberside 35.99 Wales 30.06 The information is not recorded by age of herd.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has(a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the relationship of feed from scrapie sheep and BSE. [23367]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March 1996]: The relevant research projects are:
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Project code Project title Status OC8964 BSE Deactivation Studies Commissioned/evaluated SE0201 BSE: Epidemiological Studies Commissioned/evaluated SE0209 BSE: Epidemiological Studies Commissioned SE1404 Susceptibility of BSE and Scrapie isolates Commissioned/evaluated SE1405 Susceptibility of BSE agent to chemical and physical inactivation in the field/laboratory Commissioned/evaluated SE1413 Strain typing of Scrapie agent in meat and bone meal Proposed—not yet approved SE1417 The effect of PrPgenotype on the thermostability of scrapie agent Commissioned SE1421 BSE and scrapie agent susceptibility to laboratory facsimilies of rendering practices (was SE1404) Commissioned
Project code Project title Status SE1422 Practical aspects of inactivation of BSE and scrapie agents (was SE 1405) Commissioned
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the incidence of BSE in Scotland by(a) type of herd, (b) age of herd and (c) region. [23362]
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 28 March I996]: As at 22 April 1996, 37.5 per cent. of all dairy herds had had at least one case of BSE and 14.01 per cent. of all beef herds.
As at 22 April, the proportion of herds in each region in Scotland which had had at least one case of BSE was:
Region Incidence per cent. Borders 26.97 Central 16.08 Dumfries 33.85 Fife 29.67 Grampian 22.24 Highland 8.24 Lothian 24.85 Strathclyde 20.95 Tayside 25.83 Islands 4.67 The information is not recorded by age of herd.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will now publish the papers discussed by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee. [23839]
§ Mrs. BrowningMany of the papers discussed by the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee contain interim reports on research, medical case reports and commercial information provided in confidence. It would not be appropriate to make such information publicly available. Indeed, to do so would harm the working of SEAC, as people would be unwilling to provide it with much important information.
§ Dr. WrightTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will publish the minutes and proceedings of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee since its inception in 1990. [23767]
§ Mrs. BrowningMuch of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee's discussions, as recorded in the minutes, cover interim reports on research, medical case reports and commercial information. It would be inappropriate to make this information publicly available. To require this information to be published could make people reluctant to provide this committee with material, which could seriously harm its ability to make well judged and timely recommendations to the Government.
The Government will continue to publish the statements made by SEAC outlining its advice to Government and the reasons for that advice.