§ Mr. BreedTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the UK's progress towards meeting the EU's meat hygiene legislation with particular reference to the levels of(a) veterinary controls and (b) supervisory measures implemented. [22669]
§ Ms BlearsIn 1998, following infraction proceedings against the United Kingdom by the European Commission, we agreed to bring veterinary supervision levels in licensed meat plants in Great Britain into line with the requirements of European Union meat hygiene rules, namely the Fresh Meat (64/433/EEC) and Poultry Meat (71/118/EEC) Directives. It was not possible to secure immediate compliance largely because of a638W shortage of veterinarians in Great Britain willing to undertake meat hygiene work. The Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), which provides veterinary inspection and supervision services in GB on behalf of the Government, therefore had to put in place a concerted and long-term campaign to recruit and train the required additional veterinarians. The aim was to achieve full compliance by 1 April 2001. During the next three years the MHS increased veterinary supervision in plants in a risk-based and staged process with incremental increases being introduced as and when additional veterinary resources became available.
The MHS was well on course to meet the deadline when the foot and mouth outbreak occurred at the beginning of this year. This led to an unprecedented demand for veterinarians to assist in combating the disease and many practices which had contracted to supply additional resources to the MHS found themselves losing staff to the fight against the epidemic. These losses severely jeopardised the ability of the MHS to ensure full-time Official Veterinarian Surgeon supervision in all full-throughput slaughterhouses by the target date. Even so, the MHS was successful in arranging the required supervision in all but nine of the 305 full-throughput slaughterhouses operating in Great Britain as at 1 April 2001. Since then MHS has continued to introduce full-time supervision where possible, and full compliance was achieved in full-throughput slaughterhouses and cutting premises by November of this year. This achievement is due in no small part to the intensive and successful efforts of the MHS to recruit additional veterinarians.
The UK authorities have notified the Commission of this position. The extensive, prescriptive and detailed inspection and supervisory measures required by the Directives are enshrined in national legislation, namely the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995 (as amended) and the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 1995 (as amended).