§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make it her policy to ban the use of waste cooking oil as an additive in animal feed. [68487]
§ Margaret BeckettThe proposed Commission Regulation on health requirements for animal by-products includes a ban on the feeding of catering waste to livestock. The Commission interprets the definition of "catering waste" to include used cooking oils.
The Government opposed a total ban on cooking oils as a disproportionate method of removing the small risk of contamination, and following negotiation it is likely that we may be granted a transitional period to provide the industry with time (we have asked for a period of two years) to adjust.