§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans the Government have to contribute towards the new charges for veterinary inspection on the slaughter of animals; and if he will make a statement. [84565]
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§ Mr. RookerThe Government have no plans to contribute towards the costs of those hygiene/welfare inspections conducted at licensed fresh meat premises in accordance with harmonised EU meat hygiene rules. We are obliged by EU law to recover the costs of such inspections from the industry and are not permitted to subsidise such costs. However, the Government's study of the impact of all proposed charges in the slaughtering sector, announced on 21 April, will also look at EU legislation and the way in which inspections are carried out so as to ensure that, when charges are set, they are as low as possible consistent with maintaining public safety and honouring our obligations under EU law.
In the meantime, the Government are bearing the cost of enforcement of specified risk material controls for a further year. Nevertheless, we remain of the view that recovering these costs from the industry is right in principle.