HC Deb 05 May 2004 vol 420 c1491W
Mr. Boris Johnson

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether the final report of the mission, entitled "DG (SANCO)/3367/2001—MR Final", carried out from 1 to 5 October 2001 by the European Commission Food and Veterinary Office, was submitted to the Anderson Inquiry into foot and mouth disease; [166757]

(2) whether the Department's Inquiry Liaison Unit was informed of the final report of the mission, entitled "DG (SANCO)/3367/2001—MR Final", carried out from 1 to 5 October 2001 by the European Commission Food and Veterinary Office. [166758]

Mr. Bradshaw

There is no record of the final report, "DG (SANCO)/3367/2001—MR Final", being received by the Department's Inquiry Liaison Unit and it was not sent to the Anderson Inquiry on foot and mouth disease. However, Dr. Anderson did meet the EU Commission to discuss the foot and mouth 2001 outbreak and the lessons learned. Defra also provided the Inquiry Liaison Unit with a submission, which was passed to the Anderson Inquiry, which plotted the legislative changes, and gave copies of the legislation and the Department's working instructions, since the last foot and mouth outbreak in 1967. The submission included a copy of Council Directive 80/217. As I made clear in the Adjournment Debate on 16 March 2004, we believe that 80/217 was properly implemented in the UK. The application by this Government was consistent with previous administrations.

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