§ 26. Mrs. ButlerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the stringency of the controls on British beef relative to those applying in the rest of the European Union. [12635]
§ Mr. RookerControls on British beef are amongst the most stringent in the world.
333WThe Commission carried out inspection missions to Member States in November and December 1996. Their report on Risk Factors and Surveillance procedures in the Community highlighted shortcomings in controls in some Member States. As a result the Commission have decided to take action against 10 Member States in respect of their apparent failure to enforce some aspects of Community legislation on BSE.
In May the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) considered the Commission's draft report and concluded that action should be taken to extend controls on specified bovine material (SBM) to imports from the EU, and to imports from third countries, other than those where there is no known risk to BSE, unless resolved on an EU wide basis. A Commission Decision laying down controls for the removal and disposal of Specified Risk Material from cattle was adopted by the Commission on 30 July and will apply throughout the Community from 1 January 1998. In the meantime, only four other Member States have their own controls on specified material in cattle: the Republic of Ireland, France, the Netherlands and Portugal.
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