§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she intends to publish a Bill to enable the Government to take powers to ensure the removal, from the national sheep flock, of genotypes of sheep susceptible to scrapie; and if she will make a statement. [10597]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 26 October 2001]: The Bill was published on 25 October.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to eliminate scrapie from the national sheep flock; and if she will make a statement. [10609]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 26 October 2001]: The Government launched a national scrapie plan for Great Britain in July. This will breed resistance to scrapie into the national flock.
The plan has initially been targeted at producers of purebred, pedigree breeding sheep registered with a recognised breed society. We are currently consulting about rapid extension of the plan to the remainder of the pure breeding flock, including special action for scrapie-infected flocks. We are considering other ways of speeding up implementation of the plan and we recently announced our intention to introduce a Bill that would allow the Government to take powers to remove from the breeding flock, on a compulsory basis, sheep with genotypes that make them susceptible to scrapie.
We are also consulting on ways to encourage the reporting of scrapie when it occurs., and next year we will be undertaking a survey to gain more knowledge of the incidence of scrapie, using rapid testing methods.