§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
How often approved contractors will be contracted to collect fallen stock from each farm under the new rules on the disposal of fallen stock. [HL2893]
§ Lord WhittyWe would envisage that fallen stock will, once an approved collector has been notified, normally be collected within 24 hours and not more than 48 hours.
This would be consistent with existing contractual arrangements where collectors are expected to carry out the collection of fallen bovines and ovines within 24 hours for TSE testing purposes.
§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the new rules on disposal of fallen stock will provide storage containers or whether farmers need to provide them; and [HL2892]
What a farmer is expected to do with any decomposing carcasses if, under the new rules on disposal of fallen stock, a contractor takes over three days to collect them from a farm. [HL2894]
§ Lord WhittyUnder most circumstances collectors will be expected to collect carcasses within 24 hours of reporting. However, if carcasses do have to be held pending collection, they must be held in such a way that domestic animals, including farmed livestock and wild animals cannot gain access to them. In practice, it would be reasonable to expect them to be held securely, such as in an enclosed building, or an area away from livestock under a suitable cover, such as a tarpaulin.
15WAThere are no plans to provide farmers with storage containers under the subscription scheme. Some farmers may wish to provide their own storage containers, which must remain on the farm pending collection. Any such container must prevent animals/birds gaining access to the carcasses and must be both leak-proof, capable of cleansing and disinfecting and maintained in a clean condition.
§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why the new rules on disposal of fallen stock do not allow farmers to share a small capacity incinerator unless they take out a waste management licence, provided that the incinerator remains small scale. [HL2895]
§ Lord WhittyFallen stock are considered to be agricultural waste and currently are not controlled by the Waste Management Licensing Regulations. However, this situation is expected to change in 2004. At that time, shared low capacity incinerators which operate at below 50 kg/hour will additionally require a waste management licence issued by the Environment Agency or SEPA. This is because the exemption from licensing only applies where the waste is disposed of at the point of production. Those above 50 kg/hour will require licensing by the local authority, as at present.
16WA
§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
What monitoring of any increase in the fly-tipping of carcasses they will undertake. [HL2896]
§ Lord WhittyMonitoring of any increase in the fly-tipping of carcasses is a matter for local authorities, usually trading standards, which will enforce the EU Animal By-Products Regulation.