§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if the Government will apply the recommendations of the BSE Inquiry to its regulation of cattle product imports. [139641]
§ Mr. Nick BrownThe Government are studying all of the BSE Inquiry team's findings with care and our substantive response to their report will be published in the coming months. I will provide the House with an update on progress before the end of the year.
137W
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his response to the Phillips report as it relates to the procedures for specified bovine offal removal, for(a) knackers' yards and (b) hunt kennels. [137248]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 7 November 2000]: The Government are studying all of the BSE Inquiry team's findings with care and our substantive response to their report will be published in the coming months. I will provide the House with an update on progress before the end of the year.
§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made since 26 October of the potential health hazards associated with buried carcases of BSE-positive animals. [136093]
§ Ms QuinWe have considered the BSE Inquiry findings in this area, none of which indicate that there is any need to reconsider the safety of the BSE carcases which were buried between 1988 and 1991.
No BSE suspects have been disposed of by landfilling since 1991 when sufficient carcase incineration capacity came on stream to process the number of cases arising at that time.
The Environment Agency has regulatory responsibility for supervising the safe operation of landfill sites. The Agency monitors ground water quality in the vicinity of licensed landfill sites as a check for any leachate contamination. Following their assumption of responsibility in this area in 1996, the Agency carried out detailed assessments of all the sites concerned, and a quantitative assessment to be typical of those sites that appeared to be most vulnerable. The results showed potential risks from the landfilling that took place to be extremely low.
SEAC had previously advised that in relation to landfill sites where BSE suspects were buried it was unlikely that leachate would pose a significant problem, but that such sites should be appropriately engineered and managed to minimise leachate migration.