§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his oral statement of 1 February 2001,Official Report, column 524, on the banning of 460W imports, how many of the precedents cited related to the legal grounds of (a) animal health and (b) public morality. [150876]
§ Mr. Nick Brown[holding answer 26 February 2001]: The then Government's stated rationale for banning imports of turkeys from France was the potential risk to animal health in relation to Newcastle disease. This argument was rejected by the European Court of Justice.
Neither of the other two cases cited related to the imposition of import bans. In one case, a judicial review against Government for not banning veal calf exports on public morality grounds was not upheld. In the other, restrictions on the ability of non-UK EU fishermen to operate vessels on the UK register were deemed unlawful by the European Court of Justice.