§ Mrs. Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken to improve surveillance measures on imports of Belgian beef in order to ensure the prevention of specified risk material entering the UK. [23058]
§ Yvette CooperI have been asked to reply.
Specified risk material, in the form of spinal cord, has been found in carcase beef imported from Belgium on two occasions, both during November 2001. The beef came from two different Belgian plants, and in each case only a small proportion of the total consignment of carcase beef was involved. The Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is responsible for food safety matters in the United Kingdom, informed the Belgian authorities promptly about these incidents, asking them to investigate and to notify the FSA of the action being taken to prevent a recurrence. On each occasion the FSA also notified the European Commission.
As meat is part of the single European market, beef from another European Union member state is not subject to border inspection controls. But it is subject to checks at the meat plant of destination within the United Kingdom. In April 2001, the FSA instructed the Meat Hygiene Service to check every consignment of imported carcase beef arriving at licensed meat plants in Great Britain. Similar advice was given to local authorities, and in Northern Ireland. This policy remains current practice.