§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will send a copy of the latest scientific report approving the safety of British beef to those countries which continue to ban British beef. [97743]
§ Ms QuinMinisters and officials will certainly draw the attention of those countries which currently do not accept UK beef imports to the Scientific Steering Committee's clear advice on the safety of UK beef exports. The report is available through the internet.
§ Mr. Nigel JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those members of the Commonwealth which(a) have lifted their ban on British beef and (b) continue to ban British beef. [97741]
§ Ms QuinWe have approached a number of third countries, where a potential market has been identified, for their agreement to import British beef under the Date-based Export Scheme. So far, of those third countries that are Members of the Commonwealth, Mauritius and Cyprus have agreed, in principal, that they will allow the import of British beef under the Scheme 663W while Malta and Singapore have said that, at present, they will continue not to admit British beef. The other countries are still considering their positions. South Africa still has an import ban in place, but has said that this will be kept under review in the light of developments in the EU.
§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many pounds of(a) beef and (b) beef products have been exported each week to each of the European Union member states since the ban on exporting British beef to those states was lifted. [97055]
§ Ms QuinThe information requested is not yet available. I will write to my right hon. Friend when it is available. However he may wish to note that Official Overseas Trade Statistics do not separately identify exports of British beef from that of non-UK origin. In respect of exports of British beef, I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Burnley (Mr. Pike) on 21 October 1999,Official Report, columns 570-71.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those countries which continue to operate a ban on British beef imports. [96295]
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 29 October 1999]: Among the EU member states only France and Germany still have import bans. We have approached a number of third countries, including the USA, where a potential market has been identified for their agreement to import British beef under the Date-based Export Scheme. To date, four
Regional Service Centre 1AAPS 2BSPS 3SCPS 4SAPS 5HLCA 6CSS 7ESA Bristol 83 29 92 60 31 599 154 Cambridge 109 36 101 91 — 718 121 Carlisle 27 33 76 47 26 512 110 Crewe 31 41 112 82 51 296 134 Exeter 31 34 82 66 40 568 109 Northallerton 80 37 86 64 30 408 127 Nottingham 98 41 73 65 34 501 361 Reading 60 39 89 59 — 805 143 Worcester 59 32 92 61 28 610 148 1 AAPS—Arable Area Payments Scheme 2 BSPS—Beef Special Premium Scheme 3 SCPS—Suckler Cow Premium Scheme 4 SAPS—Sheep Annual Premium Scheme 5 HLCA—Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances 6 CSS—Countryside Stewardship Scheme 7 ESA—Environmentally Sensitive Areas Note:
Cambridge and Reading offices do not process HLCA claims.
The amount of work involved in processing a claim or agreement varies according to its value and complexity. The claims processed by each Regional Service Centre will reflect the type of farming activity in its area. Where the farm businesses in a region are bigger than the average for the country as a whole, the number of hectares or animals in a claim for a particular scheme will be higher than the average. This will in turn entail longer field inspections and computer checks on more parcels of land. The figures should not therefore be used as a direct comparison of the efficiency of the nine RSCs. MAFF is currently developing efficiency measures for CAP administration by its Regional Organisation for the financial year 2000–01.
664Wof those countries, Malta, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland, have said that, at present, they will continue not to admit British beef under the Scheme. Most of the other countries are still considering their positions. South Africa has an import ban in place, but has said that this will be kept under review in the light of developments in the EU.