§ Mr. TylerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many, and what proportion of the total, of the explanatory leaflets issued by his Department's British Cattle Movement Service to livestock farmers were wrongly addressed; what representations he has made to the EU Standing Veterinary Committee on this matter; and if he will make a statement. [49681]
§ Mr. RookerWe issued approximately 109,000 leaflets on the Cattle Tracing System last week; we estimate that around 50 per cent. had the wrong name matched to the address. The problem arose from a software programme error which has now been resolved. The error concerned the production of address labels only and does not affect the integrity of the Cattle Tracing System database which the BCMS will run. While deeply regrettable, this provided an unexpected early and successful test of the BCMS helpline which the leaflet promoted. A letter of apology has been sent to livestock farmers which again gives the BCMS Helpline details in case they missed this last week. The Standing Veterinary Committee has no locus in this matter.