Potatoes Originating in Egypt (Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (SSI 2000/8)
We will now go back to item 1(a) on the agenda, which should be marked up properly on the papers that members have in front of them.
We will consider the Potatoes Originating in Egypt (Amendment) Scotland Regulations 2000 (SSI 2000/8). This is laid under negative procedure and this committee is the lead committee on this issue. The relevant papers—the explanatory note and so forth—have been attached.
We have the opportunity to receive information from representatives of the Scottish Executive rural affairs department and the Scottish Agricultural Science Agency. Do members feel that they have enough information to proceed without hearing more information, or do they want to hear it?
As the officials are here, we should ask them to summarise the reasoning.
I invite Charlie Greenslade and Dr John Wood to the table.
Thank you very much for coming along. Members of this committee are becoming experts on potato brown rot. We are delighted to have you here to continue our education.
Will you take this opportunity to enlighten us about the order?
Charlie Greenslade (Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department):
The regulations further amend the Potatoes Originating in Egypt (Amendment) Scotland Regulations 2000 (SSI 2000/8), in their application to Scotland. Those amendment regulations implement European Commission decision 1999/842/EC, which continues community-wide measures in response to potato brown rot concerns in Egypt that were first introduced in 1996.
Ralstonia solanacearum causes the potato brown rot disease, which can seriously deplete potato yields and can render seed stocks unmarketable. Land on which affected crops have been grown has to be withdrawn from potato production for some years. Watercourses can become infected by waste from potato processing plants and host plants, such as woody nightshade growing on the banks of these rivers, can harbour the disease. Irrigation of crops from these watercourses can spread infection. Once established, the disease can be difficult to control or eradicate.
It has been estimated that the cost of potato brown rot infection and associated control measures could reach as much as £4,300 per hectare. Disease development is more severe in warmer parts of the world. Therefore, the absence of the bacterium is an important consideration for countries that export seed potatoes, such as Scotland. Although brown rot has never been found in Scotland, outbreaks have occurred elsewhere in the EC. Its control is the subject of directive 98/57/EC.
Members of the committee will recall considering last September the statutory instrument that implements this directive in Scotland. The directive places restrictions on the use of land and associated water courses where brown rot has been found. It also places an onus on the respective plant health authorities to eradicate the disease.
Egypt has traditionally supplied new potatoes to several European countries to fill the seasonal gap in domestic production. Egypt has a problem with brown rot and, with the assistance of the European Union, is trying to control it. Each year since the outbreak of brown rot in Egypt, the Commission has taken a decision to permit imports from that country of ware potatoes, subject to certain precautions.
Commission decision 1999/842/EC allows the importation of Egyptian potatoes during the 2000 season, with the following conditions. The potatoes must have been grown in pest-free areas in Egypt, which have been established following internationally agreed standards. Samples of those potatoes are taken on entry into the UK, or other member states, and are tested in laboratories for the presence of the organism. Official approval is required in the importing country for the disposal of Egyptian potato processing waste, to ensure that domestic potato production and river systems are not put at risk.
Importation may be suspended should there occur five interceptions—at ports of entry across the whole of the European Union—of Egyptian potato lots that are infected with brown rot. Currently, there are no direct imports of Egyptian potatoes into Scottish ports. However, potatoes arrive here from English ports for processing, which mainly involves washing and packing. We expect that four Scottish potato processing companies will want to wash and pack Egyptian potatoes this coming season, and will therefore seek licensing of their waste disposal arrangements under the terms of these regulations.
Last year, three companies handled approximately 1,300 tonnes of Egyptian potatoes in Scotland. It is difficult to estimate the figure for the coming year because much depends on the price of alternative source material. However, the total is likely to be about 2,000 tonnes. That figure contrasts with the 9,000 tonnes of seed potatoes Scotland has exported to Egypt this year, which represents 20 to 25 per cent of our total exports of seed potatoes.
Is there a procedure that the Scottish processors are using, or can use, to clean the water they use before they put it into rivers?
Dr John Wood (Scottish Agricultural Science Agency):
We accept a variety of procedures from processors. We accept it if their disposal goes into the sea or into estuarine water. Processors may also use heat treatment, ultraviolet treatment, or other acceptable treatments. One of the processors is about to deposit liquid waste at a landfill site. That is also an acceptable treatment. We make decisions on a case-by-case basis.
Do none of the plants have processes in place at the moment?
The ones that we have licensed so far send their liquid waste either to the sea or to estuarine water. Because the water is saline, there is no irrigation from the sea or from estuaries. One processor that we are currently inspecting for licensing will deposit its waste at a landfill site.
If there are no further questions, I will take the opportunity to thank Charlie Greenslade and Dr John Wood for attending today. Are members content with this proposal? Does the committee wish to make no recommendation in the report to Parliament?
Members indicated agreement.