HC Deb 15 January 1996 vol 269 c422W
Dr. David Clark

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much meat was purchased by his Department in each of the last five years; how much of this was British meat in 1995; and if he will list the other countries from which he purchases meat, together with the quantity of meat. [8987]

Mr. Arbuthnot

Since 1 October 1994, when the Ministry of Defence food supply contract commenced, NAAFI has purchased meat for my Department. Before that date the Ministry purchased meat direct. The value of meat purchased for the last five financial years is as follows:

£ million
Financial year Purchased by MOD Purchased by NAAFI
1990–91 34.290
1991–92 30.122
1992–93 30.581
1993–94 30.376
1994–95 115.664 213.877
1April to September 1994.
2October to March 1995.

During calendar year 1995 my Department bought £8.6 million British meat from NAAFI and £19.861 million overseas meat from NAAFI. NAAFI procures meat from wholesalers and importers on the open market to obtain the best possible price. The source of each cut of meat therefore varies from month to month, however, all pork, boned and rolled sirloin, beef diced, beef mince and ox liver have always been United Kingdom sourced. NAAFI does not have detailed records of how much meat has been procured from each overseas source, but the countries most commonly used are: Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Denmark, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, Eire, France and Chile.

This information applies to beef, pork, lamb, poultry, gammon, offal, veal, rabbit, goat, and bacon but not to manufactured products such as sausages, pasties or burgers.