Horse Passports (England) Order 2003

HL Deb 24 June 2003 vol 650 cc17-8WA

Viscount Astor

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the estimated costs of implementation of the Horse Passports (England) Order 2003, published in the final regulatory impact assessment on 27 March, include costs for drawing up legislation; and if so, what are those costs. [HL3382]

Lord Whitty

The regulatory impact assessment estimated the costs to the equine sector of implementing the horse passports legislation and did not include costs to government in drawing up legislation. These costs will be absorbed with existing departmental administration budgets.

Viscount Astor

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has agreed to provide resources to support the health aspects of the Horse Passports (England) Order 2003. [HL3385]

Lord Whitty

One of the main objectives of the Horse Passports (England) Order 2003 is to protect human health. It will achieve this by providing the necessary controls to ensure that horses treated with certain veterinary medicines which may not be used on food-producing animals do not enter the human food chain. Enforcement of these controls at the slaughterhouse will rest with the Food Standards Agency.