§ Mr. NichollsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what comments Her Majesty's Government have made on the recommendations made in the Mission report (ref. XXIV/1042/99 MR Final 22–26 Feb '99) to the Food and Veterinary Office on 26 April 1999; what visits Her Majesty's Government have received from EU officials to discuss the placing on the market of live bivalve molluscs and of fishery products in member states; what future visits have been notified to Her Majesty's Government under the EU's FVO Missions Programme for 2001; what progress has been made in implementing recommendations made to Her Majesty's Government following previous inspections; and if he will make a statement. [152094]
§ Ms StuartThe Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) wrote to the European Commission following receipt of the draft Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) report of its mission to the United Kingdom to evaluate implementation of Directive 91/492/EEC. A number of comments were submitted both to correct inaccuracies in the draft report and to provide clarification on certain points. The CVO commented on two issues which had been identified as requiring immediate corrective measures. These concerned the immediate closure of production areas following the detection of diarrhoeic shellfish poison and the coverage of the phytoplankton and biotoxin monitoring programme in England and Wales. Action has been taken on these two recommendations. The CVO also welcomed the Commission's evaluation of the Directive within the European Community and indicated that the UK would play a full and active part in the proposed commission working group to discuss further some of the issues which were identified during the inspections visits to member states.
Apart from the visit by FVO inspectors in February 1999 Commission inspectors visited the UK in October 1995 and in May 1996 to evaluate implementation of Directive 91/493/EEC. No specific dates for a future visit to the UK have been decided but the FVO programme of 243W visits for the first half of this year indicates that the FVO will visit the UK to carry out inspections of fishery products and bivalve molluscs.
Following all visits, in those cases where deficiencies were noted by the inspectors in individual establishments, the relevant local food authorities were asked to ensure that corrected action is taken. In those cases where the recommendations are addressed to the competent authority, action has generally either been taken or is being considered as part of a wider strategy.