§ Mr. LivseyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what estimate he has made of the quantity of ruminant meat and bonemeal exported from the United Kingdom between 18 July 1988 and 20 March 1996; [142893]
(2) what meat and bonemeal has been exported from the United Kingdom since 20 March 1996. [142895]
§ Ms Quin[holding answer 20 December 2000]: Ruminant meat and bonemeal is not specifically identified in the official overseas trade statistics. The nearest equivalent is:
Flours, meals and pellets, of meat or meat offal (including tankage), unfit for human consumption; greaveswhich includes poultry-based material. It is not possible to provide the actual quantity of MBM exported during the periods in question as these figures can not be extracted from the totals which include exports of other materials including non-MBM poultry-based products such as feathermeal.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what official advice the Government have received on the impact of fishmeal used in ruminant animal feed in the United Kingdom on human or animal health. [144343]
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§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 8 January 2001]: Recent independent advice is that fishmeal is a desirable ingredient in high quality ewe rations because of its blend of proteins, amino and fatty acids, although there are examples of such rations where fishmeal is not included. In its recent review of BSE controls, the Food Standards Agency has not identified fishmeal as posing a risk to human health.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment the Government have made of the impact of the EU ban on fishmeal in ruminant animal feed on conventional and organic livestock farming in Britain. [144329]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 8 January 2001]: This issue will be considered in light of responses to the consultation exercise on the wider EU feed ban which issued on 12 January.