§ Mr. SawfordTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many passports for imported animals have been processed each month by the British Cattle Movement Service from September 1998 to the latest month for which figures are available. [85732]
§ Mr. RookerThe number of cattle passports for imported animals processed by the British Cattle Movement Service each month from September 1998 to May 1999 is as follows:
121W
Month Number of imported animal passports processed September 1998 0 October 1998 444 November 1998 713 December 1998 728 January 1999 684 February 1999 505
Month Number of imported animal passports processed March 1999 899 April 1999 2,258 May 1999 1,608 Total for period 7,839
§ Mr. SawfordTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many passports for imported animals are currently awaiting processing at the British Cattle Movement Service; and how many working days, on average, it takes to process each animal. [85733]
§ Mr. RookerThere are currently 1,005 applications for passports for imported animals awaiting processing. Applications for imported animals which do not require the British Cattle Movement Service to seek further information or supporting documentation from the applicant take, on average, 7 to 10 working days to process. Applications that must be referred back to the applicant will take longer than this.