§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the total cost to public funds to date of the EU ban on United Kingdom beef exports. [25440]
§ Mr. RookerPublic funds have been used to carry out a number of activities arising directly from the beef export ban including: the introduction of legislation and enforcement arrangements to prohibit exports and to control permitted exports; the preparation of the ECJ case questioning the legality for the ban; and the development of proposals for the gradual removal of the ban. These activities involve a number of Government Departments and Ministers and it is not possible separately to identify costs associated with this work. Government expenditure on BSE related measures over the period 1996–97 to 1999–2000 is forecast to be around £3.7 billion.