§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which ministers and officials have(a) been invited to give evidence and (b) given evidence to the Lessons Learned inquiry; and if she will make a statement. [61580]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 13 June 2002] This is a matter for the Lessons Learned inquiry. As indicated on its website, the inquiry has held a series of meetings with 225W key Ministers, senior officials and organisations involved in the handling of the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many animals, by type, were slaughtered during the foot and mouth outbreak on the 13 infected premises in Wigtownshire which returned negative blood tests. [56624]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 15 May 2002]: The following animals were slaughtered on the 13 infected premises in Wigtownshire:
- 3,539 cattle
- 3,572 sheep
- 55 pigs.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many(a) cattle, (b) sheep, (c) pigs and (d) other animals were slaughtered during the foot and mouth outbreak on the basis of (i) contiguous premises, (ii) three kilometre premises, (iii) slaughter on suspicion and (iv) other reasons as a result of the two infected premises which returned positive blood tests in Wigtownshire; and how many animals of each type were slaughtered on the infected premises themselves. [56623]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 15 May 2002]: The table sets out the animals it was necessary to slaughter for disease control purposes as a result of the two infected premises in Wigtownshire.
Cattle Sheep Pigs Contiguous premises 3,485 2,424 — 3k cull 952 8,801 2 Dangerous contacts 2,049 1,462 — 299 cattle, 803 sheep and 27 pigs were slaughtered on the infected premises themselves.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what additional steps she is taking to prevent the importation of foot and mouth virus during the World cup finals in South Korea; [57141]
(2) what assessment she has made of the risk posed to UK livestock by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in South Korea. [57140]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 16 May 2002]: In recent weeks, we issued advice to travellers, via the Football Association website and the British Consulate in Seoul, not to visit farms and to either keep to the current personal import allowance of 1 kg of meat co ked in a hermetically sealed container or, preferably, not to bring any meat at all to the UK. In addition we sent letters to 5,000 World cup ticket holders reiterating this information. We have also advised our port and airport enforcement authorities of the outbreak of foot and mouth in South Korea.
South Korea is not a country that is authorised to export meat/animals to the EU. Veterinary advice is that the risk of travellers bringing foot and mouth disease back from South Korea is not significant. Most games are taking place in Japan, which does not have foot and mouth disease. As part of the Government's Action Plan, we will 226W continue to gather intelligence to support the risk assessment currently under way, this will inform decisions about the nature of the risks and actions to be taken to reduce the risk of exotic diseases entering the country.