§ Mr. TylerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent assessment he has made of(a) the number of declared and undeclared BSE cases in other EU member states and (b) the control mechanism for the import of beef and beef extract products from those countries; and if he will make a statement. [63663]
§ Mr. RookerFigures for confirmed BSE cases in other EU Countries for 1995, 1996, 1997 and to 4 December 1998, supplied to us by the Commission are given in the following table:
EU country 1995 1996 1997 11998 Belgium — — 1 6 France 3 12 6 14 Germany2 — — 2 — Luxembourg — — 1 — Netherlands — — 2 2 Portugal 14 29 30 83 Republic of Ireland 16 73 77 69 1 to 4 December 1998 2 Germany has reported no homebred cases of BSE The total number of BSE cases reported to the Commission by EU Member States are given in the following table:
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Country Date of last report 1 No. of cases from UK Total cases Belgium 4 December 1998 — 7 Denmark 4 December 1998 1 1 France 4 December 1998 — 46 Germany 4 December 1998 5 26 Italy 4 December 1998 2 2 Luxembourg 4 December 1998 — 1
Country Date of last report1 No. of cases from UK Total cases Netherlands 4 December 1998 — 4 Portugal 4 December 1998 7 191 Republic of Ireland 4 December 1998 12 335 1 Date of last report received—whether indicating no change or an increase in number of confirmed cases. 2 Germany has reported no homebred cases of BSE. The sixth case is believed to have come from Switzerland. The UK's SRM controls require all beef and beef products for food and animal feed use imported from other EU member states and third countries to be accompanied by official veterinary certification confirming that they do not contain and were not derived from specified risk materials—the tissues most likely to harbour BSE infectivity. These national controls are in addition to the rules for intra-Community trade.
§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what testing and inspection procedures are applied to (i) pork, (ii) chicken and (iii) beef being imported into the UK; [63837]
(2) if he will ensure that chicken pieces coming from Brazil meet the health and safety standards which apply to poultry farmers in the UK; [63834]
(3) what steps he has taken to ensure that the British public is not buying contaminated pork or chicken in unprocessed, processed or pre-prepared food products imported from outside the UK. [63836]
§ Mr. RookerAll consignments of fresh meat imported into the UK, whether from other EU Member States or third countries, must have been produced in accordance with the harmonised Community rules laid down in Council Directive 64/433/EEC. Among other things, this Directive sets out the licensing, structural and veterinary supervision requirements to be applied in abattoirs, cutting plants and cold stores. Slaughterhouses in third countries have to comply with standards at least equivalent to those laid down in the Directive before they can export to the EU. The European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office are responsible for carrying out inspections in member states and in the third countries from which fresh meat is imported into the Community. If necessary, the Commission will take infraction proceedings against Member States whose arrangements are considered inadequate.
All consignments of animal products imported into the European Union from third countries are subject to checks at designated B order Inspection Posts (BIPs). Community law requires every consignment to be subject to a documentary and identity check. For poultry meat and poultry meat products, other than from countries with which the Community has equivalence agreements, the minimum frequency laid down in Community law for physical checks is 50 per cent. of consignments. For pork and beef and related products the minimum frequency for physical checks is 20 per cent. European Commission guidance states that at least 1 per cent. of consignments which are subject to physical checks at Border Inspection Posts should be randomly sampled for residues, contaminants and bacteria such as salmonella and coliforms. Single Market rules only permit random-spot checks at the final destination on products from other Member States and on products from third countries that have passed through a BIP.