§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assumptions about French BSE controls underlay the advice from the Food Standards Agency on French beef imports. [144316]
§ Ms Stuart[holding answer 8 January 2001]: I am advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that its advice on French imports was based on the assumptions given in Dr. Christl Donnelly's study published in "Nature" on 13 December 2000. These were that if the over-30-months (OTM) rule is fully enforced there is virtually no risk from French beef imported to Britain. If the OTM rule is only 75 per cent. enforced then risks posed by British and French meat sold in the United Kingdom would be comparable. The FSA estimates that enforcement levels in the UK are above 75 per cent. This allows for the fact that there may have been under-reporting of BSE cases in France and that the French feed ban may not have been fully effective until late 2000.
Inspection missions to member states are carried out by the European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO). An additional programme of urgent FVO missions is currently under way to all member states. France was visited in the week beginning 4 December 2000. The report of the mission will be published in due course in line with normal practice.
In advising on the safety of French beef imports, the FSA has made clear that it keeps the position under constant review, taking account of the latest available scientific and other information. This will include the outcome of the FVO inspection mission to France once it is available.
§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of imported cattle carcases are individually checked for specified risk material contamination. [147857]
§ Ms StuartImported cattle careases are generally checked for the presence of specified risk material (SRM) on a targeted basis. Imports from other parts of the European Union (EU) are checked by the Meat Hygiene Service at licensed meat plants in Great Britain, or by local authorities at other meat plants. Imports from non-EU countries are checked at border inspection posts, where checks in all cases are made of the accompanying veterinary certificate (declaring that SRM has been removed) and where a sample of consignments are in addition subject to physical checks. Only imports from Australia and New Zealand are exempt from these requirements under the Specified Risk Materials Order 1997.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has advised that the checks should be proportionate to the risk. Recently, and as a response to the identification of SRM in imported beef from Germany and the Netherlands, the MHS has been instructed by the FSA to check 100 pet cent. of carcase beef imports from Germany at GB meat plants. The MHS has also been required to give special attention to imports from abattoirs in other countries from which previous consignments of beef with SRM attached were imported.
The FSA has also instructed the MHS to step up the level of checks on imported meat, in recognition of the likely increase in the volume of imports, due to the effects of the foot and mouth disease crisis on domestic supplies.
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§ Mr. CawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he has taken following the discovery of spinal cord in imported beef from other EU countries. [149915]
§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what investigations he has carried out into the presence of spinal cords in beef imported into the UK from Germany; what the findings were of those investigations; and if he will make a statement. [150222]
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he is taking to stop the import of meat that contains specified risk material; and if he will make a statement. [155296]
§ Ms StuartThe Government are advised on matters of food safety by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Controls on specified risk materials (SRM), such as spinal cord, are a crucial part of the protection of United Kingdom consumers against BSE, and the UK has had rules requiring the removal and safe disposal of SRM for several years. New, harmonised European-wide SRM controls were introduced with effect from 1 October 2000. Responsibility for ensuring that SRM controls are being enforced by all member states lies with the European Commission, which is currently carrying out inspection missions to all member states to check on this.
Where consignments of beef imported into the UK have been found with SRM attached, the issue has been taken up vigorously with the European Commission, and with the authorities of the member states involved—Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. The FSA policy is to press for plant closures if evidence suggests that there is a system failure. It is for the national authorities to review the inspection systems at the abattoirs concerned, and three abattoirs, two in Germany and one in the Netherlands, have had their operating licences suspended by their relevant authorities until they can guarantee that no more contaminated meat will come into circulation on the market. The FSA has also instructed the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) (and its counterpart in Northern Ireland) to inspect every consignment of carcase beef imported from Germany to licensed meat plants in the UK, and all consignments from the other overseas abattoirs concerned. Reports from the MHS show that the large majority of consignments of imported beef have had the SRM properly removed. In addition, local authorities have been advised to check all consignment of imported carcase beef from Germany at meat plants under their supervision.