§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [61703]
§ Mr. MorleyI refer the hon. Member to my reply of 22 May 2002,Official Report, column 323W.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Joint Meetings of Management and/or Regulatory Committees dealing with trade mechanisms is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the UK representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [55662]
372W
§ Mr. MorleyThe mandate of the Management Committee on Horizontal Question Concerning Trade in Agricultural Products (usually know as the "Trade Mechanisms Group") is to oversee a number of CAP market support and control measures. The Committee's main role is in connection with the regulations pertaining to the import and export of agricultural products.
The Committee meets monthly, with the exception of August.
The UK's usual representation consists of two officials from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). However, officials from other Departments such as HM Customs also attend occasionally, depending on the agenda for the meeting in question.
Travel expenses of approximately £11,000 for two delegates were reimbursed by the Commission. Other costs, consisting of subsistence allowances and travel expenses for additional officials, are met by the parent agency or Department of those in attendance and amounted to approximately £6,300 over the last 12 months.
Issues presently under consideration include a number of amendments and clarifications to the main external trade regulations in response to, for example, reports issued by the Court of Auditors.
Arrangements are in place to report on the Committee's activities through DEFRA, RPA's parent Department. RPA has a range of measures to communicate changes to the regulatory regime to its customers and other interested parties. The activities of RPA generally are subject to scrutiny by various audit bodies, including the National Audit Office.
The Committee may be regarded as a comitology committee. Consequently, the following points are relevant in regard to increasing its accountability and transparency:
Together with member states, the Commission is currently conducting a review to bring existing legislation on the conduct of comitology committees into line with Council Decision 1999/468/EC, to "simplify the requirements for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission".As an obligation to this Decision, the Commission undertook to publish an annual report on the working of committees. The first report was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 26 February 2002 (Com (2001) 783 Final).As part of the review process, the UK Government have encouraged the Commission to produce and maintain an electronic database of every comitology committee, its agendas and recent actions, to be accessible through its website.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; what the United Kingdom representation on it is; what the annual cost of its work is to public funds; if she will list the items currently under its consideration; if she will take steps to increase its accountability and transparency to Parliament; and if she will make a statement. [57490]
§ Ms BlearsI have been asked to reply.
The Standing Committee for Foodstuffs was replaced by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health from 21 February 2002. This was in 373W accordance with EC Regulation 178/2002. In total, these committees have met eight times in the year ending 31 May 2002.
The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (sub-section food and toxicological safety) is a regulatory committee composed of representatives of the member states and chaired by a representative of the Commission. The UK is normally represented by officials of the Food Standards Agency. The annual cost of its work to public funds could be calculated only at disproportionate cost, although travel and subsistence costs totalled approximately £5,000, part of which was reimbursed by the Commission. The committee is currently considering a number of issues including food labelling, the authorisation of food additives, and contaminants in the food chain. Minutes and current agendas of the committee's meetings can be found on the European Commission's website.
Together with member states, the Commission is currently conducting a review to bring legislation on the conduct of comitology committees into line with Council Decision 1999/468/EC, to
simplify the requirements for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission".As an obligation to this Decision, the Commission undertook to publish an annual report on the working of committees. The first report was deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 26 February 2002 (Cm (2001) 783 Final).
As part of the review process, the UK Government have encouraged the Commission to produce and maintain an electronic database of every comitology committee, its agendas and recent actions, to be accessible through its website.
§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the mandate of the EU Committee for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress of the directive on the quality of fresh water is; how many times it has met over the last 12 months; when it is next due to meet; what the United Kingdom representation on it is; whether experts nominated by the Scottish Executive(a) have been and (b) are members of it; and if she will make a statement. [62918]
§ Mr. MorleyI refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 22 May 2002,Official Report, column 323W.
At present there are no plans for the Committee to meet. UK representation varies according to the agenda for each meeting and may include members of the Scottish Executive and other devolved Administrations where there are items of sufficient interest.