§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his policy on direct incineration of over-thirty-month scheme cattle. [100827]
§ Ms QuinEU Commission Regulation 716/96 requires that OTMS animals be incinerated, or rendered and destroyed. The Intervention Board (IB), which is 231W responsible for the administration of the scheme in the UK, looks to maintain a balance between direct carcase incineration and rendering. On the basis of capacity and cost considerations, the IB has determined that rendering should be the primary disposal route for OTMS animals. IB has contracted meat and bone meal incineration capacity to meet its needs for the foreseeable future. Direct carcase incineration will continue to play an important part in the scheme, in particular for casualty animals slaughtered on-farm.