§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what date his Department asked the United States Government to comment on the recent reports of the presence of BSE in the USA; to which United States departments these requests were addressed; and on what date the United States departments replied. [90402]
§ Mr. RookerOn 10 May an official in my Department wrote to the Agricultural Economist at the US Embassy in London drawing attention to allegations in a letter published inFarmers Weekly that there were cases of BSE in the USA. A substantive reply was received by my Department on 17 June drawing on advice supplied to the Embassy by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).