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Poultry (Medicinal Residues)
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of poultry in the United Kingdom were slaughtered before the end of the medication withdrawal period for (a) nicarbazin, (b) lasalocid and (c) dimetridazole in (i) 1998, (ii) 1999, (iii) 2000, (iv) 2001 and (v) November and December of (i), (ii) and (iii). [16972]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 November 2001]: DEFRA do not collect these statistics.
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the permitted concentrations of (a) nicarbazin, (b) lasalocid and (c) dimetridazole residues in poultry are which were deemed safe for human consumption in the United Kingdom (i) 1998, (ii) 1999, (iii) 2000 and (iv) 2001; [16973]
- (2) how many poultry samples by category were and what proportion of slaughtered poultry was found to contain residues of (a) nicarbazin, (b) lasalocid and (c) dimetridazole above the level deemed suitable for human consumption in the United Kingdom in (i) 1998, (ii) 1999, (iii) 2000 and (iv) 2001. [16974]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 November 2001]: The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has set an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for nicarbazin of 0–400 g/kg of body weight—24,000 g for a person weighing 60 kg. This represents the amount of nicarbazin that could be consumed every day over a lifetime without harm to human health. A single exposure over this amount would be unlikely to be harmful.
Lasalocid has an ADI of 10 g/kg of body weight, 600 g for a person weighing 60 kg. Again, a single exposure over this amount would be unlikely to be harmful.
Dimetridazole is not permitted for use in food producing animals. The advice of toxicologists is that it is not possible to identify a "safe" residue concentration.
Poultry are sampled as part of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's (VMD's) Statutory National Surveillance Scheme, in accordance with the requirements of EC Directive 96/23. The sample numbers tested for nicarbazin, lasalocid and dimetridazole over the period are given in the table.
No samples of poultry have been found to contain residues of dimetridazole in the period. Residues of nicarbazin and lasalocid have been found in samples of UK poultry, but toxicologists' advice has confirmed that none posed a risk to consumer safety. The presence of nicarbazin in poultry products is a food contaminant issue, rather than a food safety issue.
The results for 1998–2000 were fully reported in the relevant Annual Report on Surveillance for Veterinary Medicine Residues.
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| Residue/poultry sampled | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001(16) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicarbazin | ||||
| Broiler liver | 229 | 192 | 186 | 210 |
| Hen liver | 23 | 23 | 19 | 20 |
| Turkey liver | 59 | 55 | 55 | 40 |
| Duck liver | 11 | 11 | 11 | 5 |
| Lasalocid | ||||
| Broiler liver | 236 | 176 | 197 | 210 |
| Hen liver | 26 | 24 | 21 | 20 |
| Turkey liver | 58 | 52 | 50 | 40 |
| Duck liver | 13 | 13 | 12 | 5 |
| Dimetridazole | ||||
| Broiler liver | 706 | 1,315 | 1,082 | 1,233 |
| Hen liver | 39 | 70 | 50 | 56 |
| Turkey liver | 155 | 265 | 205 | 234 |
| Duck liver | 16 | 32 | 26 | 55 |
(16) The 2001 figures are the number of samples that are planned to have been collected by the end of the year's programme
Poultry (Finisher Feed)
Mr. Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of poultry was slaughtered in the United Kingdom before the withdrawal period for finisher feed was completed in November and December of (a) 1998, (b) 1999 and (c) 2000. [17103]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 November 2001]: DEFRA do not collect these statistics.
Ovine TSE
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how much funding was set aside to test for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in sheep in (a) 1999–2000, (b) 2000–01 and (c) 2001–02; [16970]
- (2) what proportion of funding for testing for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in sheep for (i) 1999–2000, (ii) 2000–01 and (iii) 2001–02 related to scrapie. [16971]
Mr. Morley [holding answers 23 November 2001]: The cost of surveillance of TSEs, including scrapie, in sheep is as follows: (i) 1999–2000 £442,000; (ii) 2000–01 £205,000; and (iii) 2001–02 £212,000. Costs for 2001–02 are estimates only.
In the new year the Department will be launching an abattoir survey to test for TSEs, including scrapie, some 23,000 sheep aged over 18 months. This part of an EU-wide programme designed to give information on the incidence of scrapie and other TSEs in the European Union. The total cost will be around £5 million.
Ovine BSE
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 16 November 2001, Official Report, column 972W, what was (a) the number of scrapie-resistant sheep that were infected with BSE over the last 12 months, (b) the proportion of sheep deemed necessary for infectivity
27 Nov 2001 : Column: 856W
of BSE in sheep to be confirmed and (c) the proportion of sheep that have tested positive for TSEs in the last 12 months. [17303]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 November 2001]: The information is as follows:
- (a) Because of the long incubation period of TSEs, experiments in progress pan more than one year. There are four experiments in progress in which sheep of genotypes fully resistant to scrapie (ARR/ARR) have been challenged with BSE. 60 sheep of this genotype are being used in these experiments, along with sheep of different genotypes which are partially or fully susceptible to scrapie.
- (b) As the true prevalence of scrapie in sheep in the UK is unknown, various assumptions have been made to calculate how many sheep would need to be tested to determine whether BSE was present. On the assumption that the true number of scrapie cases per year is 5,000 and that 0.1 per cent. of the scrapie suspects might be BSE, the SEAC subgroup which examined surveillance requirements, and whose report was published in April 1999, estimated that 2,253 scrapie suspects would need to be tested to be certain of detecting at least one case of BSE.
- (c) Between November 2000 and end of September 2001, 465 sheep scrapie suspects have bene tested at VLA. 284 were found to be positive for scrapie.
Correspondence Unit
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many members of staff work in the correspondence unit of her Department; and if she will make a statement. [17723]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 November 2001]: The Department's correspondence section is currently comprised of nine permanent staff and 10 temporary staff. The size of the section has increased substantially in recent months to deal with the sheer volume of letters received during the foot and mouth disease outbreak and since the creation of DEFRA.
Scrapie
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 16 November 2001, Official Report, column 972W, how many representations she has received (a) from stakeholders on the Animal Health Bill between its publication and 20 November and (b) on the Government's National Scrapie Plan between July 2000 and 20 November 2001. [17302]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 23 November 2001]: The Department had received approximately 10 written representations relating to the Animal Health Bill from stakeholders as at 20 November. This figure includes correspondence from both private individuals and organisations, and correspondence from MPs.
In addition I have held a number of meetings with stakeholders to discuss the Bill.
One hundred submissions were received from stakeholders in response to the original proposals on the National Scrapie Plan (NSP) published for consultation between 28 July and 31 October 2000. Thirty-one submissions were received in response to proposals to extend the NSP (and on issues relating to scrapie reporting) published for consultation between 9 October and 1 November 2001.
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Agricultural Regulatory Licensing System
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to bring forward legislation (a) introducing a regulatory system of licensing for farmers wishing to grow crops or raise animals and (b) making it compulsory for farmers to purchase insurance against agricultural disaster such as disease; and if she will make a statement. [18206]
Mr. Morley: I have no such plans at this point but both these ideas are among the many options which the Government and the Policy Commission will need to consider to help build a sustainable, modern farming industry. No decisions will be taken before we have received the recommendations of the Policy Commission or without full consultation with all interested parties.
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