Foot and Mouth (Hansard, 26 March 2001)

§ Mr. Laurence Robertson
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what veterinary advice he has received regarding the level of threat posed to the spreading of foot and mouth disease by the holding of horseracing meetings; and if he will make a statement. [152162]

§ Ms Quin
[holding answer 5 March 2001]Veterinary advice to Ministers is that no meeting should be held within an officially designated Protection Zone. This is an area of at least 3 kilometres around an infected premises.
We have provided veterinary support in drawing up advice for use by the British Horseracing Board regarding the conditions under which race meetings in other parts of the country may be held.

§ Mr. Luff
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what discussions he has had with British Waterways about the precautions necessary to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease; and if he will make a statement. [153842]

§ Ms Quin
[holding answer 15 March 2001]The Ministry has had a number of contacts with British Waterways at a local level and these have been constructive. In the light of the developing situation, British Waterways has commissioned a detailed risk516W assessment from the ADAS consultancy. This will ensure that a consistent policy is implemented on access to British Waterways land. The Ministry is assisting ADAS and the results of the study will be made available on the MAFF website http://www.maff.gov.uk/.

§ Miss McIntosh
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what precautions are in place with regard to the transport of animals for rendering during the foot and mouth outbreak. [153971]

§ Ms Quin
The lorries involved in transport to rendering plants are specially designed to be leakproof. This is checked by filling them partially with water and tilting them to 30 degrees to check for leaks. Dead animals do not excrete the virus. The carcases are all individually disinfected and covered in the lorries with plastic sheeting. This is weighed down with straw or sawdust which is heavily disinfected. The lorry is then covered with a tight-fitting tarpaulin. These precautions reduce the risk of spreading infection to an extremely low level.

§ Mr. Pickles
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will introduce regulations to allow the burial of carcases as an alternative to burning for the disposal of animals culled as part of the precautions against foot and mouth. [153952]

§ Ms Quin
Burial is our preferred method of disposal where environmental conditions permit. Unfortunately, the high watertable across much of the country has precluded its use in many cases. We will use the full range of safe disposal routes available to us.

§ Miss McIntosh
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received on the level of prices for meat at abattoirs during the foot and mouth crisis. [1542831

§ Ms Quin
Regular, vigorous representations on the price of red meat have been received from all sectors of the industry since the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. However, since official deadweight price reporting of cattle has recommenced and the exchange of information on sheep and pig prices has improved, the level has reduced significantly. Issues relating to pricing policies and unfair competition are a matter for the Director General of Fair Trading.

§ Mr. Öpik
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what arrangements he has made to ensure animals are being slaughtered at the closest possible abattoir to the point of origin of the stock; and if he will make a statement; [154395]
(2) what measures he has taken to reduce the transportation of carcases and stock across country in the light of the current foot and mouth outbreak; and if he will make a statement. [154394]

§ Mr. Morley
For the duration of the outbreak, we are using the weekly foot and mouth disease stakeholders meetings to stress the need to keep journeys as short as possible. All movement is banned subject to restricted and limited journeys under licence. Where necessary to move animals for welfare reasons, then this is subject to strict controls.
For the longer term, we agree that we will need to look very closely at long distance livestock movements, both on animal health and welfare grounds.
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§ Mr. Peter Ainsworth
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the meetings and conferences organised by his Department and agencies of his Department which have been(a) cancelled and (b) postponed owing to foot and mouth disease; and if he will make a statement. [155372]

§ Ms Quin
[holding answer 23 March 2001]This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.