Agriculture Council (Hansard, 25 November 1998)

§ Mr. Nick Brown

I represented the United Kingdom at a meeting of the EU Agriculture Council in Brussels on 23 and 24 November. My noble Friend Lord Sewel, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, was also present.

The Council voted on a proposal made by the Commission for the lifting of the world-wide ban on the export of British beef in respect of meat from animals born after 1 August 1996. 10 Member States voted in favour of the measure; only one, Germany—for understandable domestic reasons—voted against. Spain, France, Austria and Luxembourg abstained. This vote represented a substantial move towards the Commission proposal by 5 Member States from the earlier vote in the Standing Veterinary Committee. Most important, the procedures under which the vote was taken in Council enable the Commission formally to adopt the Decision.

I can now announce to the House that within the last 3 hours the Commission has adopted the proposal, which permits the export from the UK of boneless beef and beef products from animals slaughtered between 6 and 30 months of age and born after 1 August 1996. That is the date on which the Commission have verified that all contaminated feed was removed from the food chain. There are further conditions which aim to prevent the offspring of BSE cases from entering the export scheme; 9W a requirement for the slaughter of offspring of BSE cases; and strict rules on slaughtering and processing. The Government will shortly issue a consultation paper on our proposals for implementing these rules. I shall be laying before Parliament secondary legislation which will make the offspring cull, which has been operating since July on a voluntary basis, compulsory. The legislation will provide compensation at the market rate, to owners of animals slaughtered.

This is an excellent outcome which I am sure the House will welcome. It has been achieved against a background of scepticism about the seriousness with which we have tackled BSE. We have now overcome these misconceptions and had our case judged objectively on its scientific merits and supported by independent Commission inspections, taking as our over-riding principle the absolute need to safeguard public health.

Every Agriculture Minister who spoke in the Council, including those who did not vote in favour, had very positive things to say about the commitment shown by the new United Kingdom Government to tackling the problems presented by BSE. The outcome is also an affirmation of the value of this Government's close co-operation and dialogue with our partners in Europe and with the European Commission.

The lifting of the ban comes hard on the heels of the support measures for the agriculture sector which I announced to the House on 16 November 1998, Official Report, columns 624–66. Both demonstrate the Government's commitment to securing a viable long term future for the sector.

The Council also held a discussion of the Commission's proposals for CAP reform in the context of the Agenda 2000 measures. These proposals are essential for the future stability of European agriculture and in order to facilitate a successful enlargement of the Union to the east. The Council agreed a report to the Vienna European Council next month identifying the main outstanding issues and expressing its determination to reach conclusions on the package as a whole by next March. It is an important Government objective to secure an ambitious reform of the CAP which serves the national interest and I very much welcomed the commitment by the Council to take early decisions. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor made similar points in the discussion in Ecofin on 23 November on the future financing of the European Union.

This was a very important Council meeting for the United Kingdom. We have achieved a major objective of our policy towards Europe in the lifting of the beef export ban. Although it will take time for the British beef industry to win back markets which have been lost to them in the past two and a half years, I believe we have created the conditions in which they can now plan for the future, confident that their industry is operating to the 10W highest possible standards. Our immediate task is to work with the industry to ensure that the scheme which we have successfully negotiated in Europe works effectively to help regain recognition for the quality of British beef on world markets.