HC Deb 03 March 1999 vol 326 cc794-5W
Mr. Gill

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what progress he is making in monitoring the compliance of British retailers with their undertaking to sell only pork and pigmeat products derived from pigs produced in the United Kingdom. [R] [73795]

Mr. Rooker

British retailers have given no such undertaking to the Government. I assume the hon. Member is referring to the undertakings given by the major supermarkets in respect of sourcing own label fresh pork, bacon, and other products from stall and tether and MBM free systems, and not labelling as British products produced or packed in this country using imported fresh pork. The British Retail Consortium is to survey its members to see how far they have got in meeting these undertakings, and I look forward to seeing the results of that survey.

Mr. Gill

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will invoke EU Treaty Article 36 to prevent the importation of pigmeat which does not meet the same standards of production as required in the United Kingdom. [R] [73793]

Mr. Rooker

No; it is not possible to use Article 36 of the Treaty to impose higher UK standards on imports where EU law has been harmonised as it has been in the case of welfare standards for pigs. Furthermore, the UK ban on the use of Meat and Bone Meal (MBM) is not in place because there is a known risk to the health or life of humans or animals (a stipulation of Article 36) in feeding MBM to pigs. The MBM ban is in place to address the specific risk that, if pig or poultry feed were to contain MBM, there would be a real risk of contamination (accidental or deliberate) of ruminant feed with pig or poultry feed.

Mr. Gill

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of whether the volume of pigmeat imported into the United Kingdom is consistent with the number of pigs produced in other countries without sow stalls and tethers and without feed containing MMB. [R] [73796]

Mr. Rooker

I have made no such assessment.

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