§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many cattle now have passports issued by the British Cattle Movement Service. [76733]
§ Mr. RookerThe British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) has now provided more than a million cattle with passports since its launch on 28 September 1998. In addition BCMS has processed more than a million passports of slaughtered cattle, entered more than 600,000 live cattle movements on to the Cattle Tracing System database, and dealt with around 140,000 phone calls from farmers to its Helpline.
These are impressive achievements. As a result of BCMS' work, it will be much easier to check where cattle have been during their lives. This will help to trace animals during disease outbreaks, and is an important factor in rebuilding confidence in British cattle and beef, at home and abroad.