HC Deb 09 May 1996 vol 277 cc261-3W
11. Mr. Stevenson

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met consumers' representatives to discuss measures to control bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [27467]

Mr. Douglas Hogg

Yesterday.

17. Mr. Turner

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met with consumers' representatives to discuss measures to control bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [27475]

Mr. Hogg

Yesterday afternoon.

22. Mr. Etherington

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he last met farmers' representatives to discuss bovine spongiform encephalopathy. [27480]

Mrs. Browning

My ministerial colleagues and I are in frequent contact with farmers' representatives. We are always willing to discuss the current difficulties and to listen to their views.

26. Mr. Kevin Hughes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what advice he has given to knackers' yards and the rendering industry in relation to implementation of new BSE regulations. [27484]

Mrs. Browning

The rendering industry and knackers' yards have been kept fully informed of the requirements of the new BSE regulations as they affect these sectors.

Mr. Tyler

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will initiate a comprehensive inquiry into the cause of the duration of the problems in respect of BSE. [27473]

Mr. Douglas Hogg

The ruminant feed ban introduced in 1988 has been instrumental in reducing the number of confirmed cases by 75 per cent. since the peak in 1993. It is clear that the ban was not completely watertight and it has been progressively tightened, most recently to prevent mammalian meat and bone meal being fed to any farm animals. But the benefits of the more recent measures will take some time to see, as the disease has a long incubation period.

Mr. Wigley

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the effect of the culling proposals agreed at the Council of Ministers at Luxembourg on 29 and 30 April on the incidence of BSE in Untied Kingdom beef and dairy herds. [28305]

Mrs. Browning

No agreement was reached at the Agriculture Council on 29 and 30 April on culling cattle. The impact of the proposals we put forward cannot be estimated with precision but could in theory reduce the number of cases in 1996 by up to a third and should in practice achieve a reduction of between 15 and 30 per cent.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research his Department has carried out into BSE in each of the last 10 years; and how much of this research has been to identify the BSE infective agent. [24420]

Mrs. Browning

Details of BSE research funded by MAFF since 1991–92 will be placed in the Library today. The projects which involve work to identify the BSE infective agent are listed separately.

Research records prior to 1991 are not held on computer; to provide the information for the period requested could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Gapes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the number of suspected BSE cases per year since 1988 as a percentage of the national herd in that year. [24240]

Mrs. Browning

The number of suspected BSE cases per year since 1988 as a percentage of the national herd in that year are detailed in the following table:

Year Percentage
1988 0.066
1989 0.220
1990 0.442
1991 0.770
1992 1.140
1993 1.112
1994 0.751
1995 0.445

Mr. Key

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what scientific evidence the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee decided that masseter and temporal muscles in cattle heads over six months of age should be treated as specified bovine offal; and if he will make a statement. [24215]

Mrs. Browning

The Government sought advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee on this point. The committee recommended that the removal of bovine head meat from bovine heads should be prohibited because they were concerned at the possibility of such meat being contaminated with brain material following stunning and pithing, rather than because of concerns about the safety of meat itself.