Mr. PresserTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 3 May 2000,Official Report, column 140W, on live animal exports, what steps he plans to take to reduce the number of sheep originating from Kent which need to be removed by his staff at Dover port from consignments of slaughter/further fattening sheep; and if he will make a statement. [124888]
§ Mr. MorleyCareful consideration is already given to the reasons why individual sheep are found to be unfit at Dover so that steps can be taken to deal with any remediable cause.
§ Mr. ProsserTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 1 March 2000,Official Report, column 286W, on live animal exports, how many sheep were rejected by local veterinary inspectors from 31 May to 31 December 1999 as unfit to travel, broken down by county in England and Wales. [125135]
§ Mr. MorleyThe updated numbers of sheep rejected by local veterinary inspectors as unfit to travel for the period 31 May to 31 December 1999 according to counties of origin are as follows:
618W
Country/county Number England Herefordshire 506 North Yorkshire 3,726 Shropshire 3 Scotland Dumfries and Galloway 17 Lanarkshire 6 Mid-Lothian 1 Wales Denbighshire 6,547 Monmouthshire 10
Country/county Number Powys 600 Wrexham 1,143 Total 12,559 Notes:
1. Nil returns for all other counties
2. All figures are provisional and subject to change