Rural Affairs Committee, 15 Feb 2000

Meeting date: Tuesday, February 15, 2000

Official Report 202KB pdf

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Food (Animal Products from Belgium) (Emergency Control) (Scotland) Order 2000 (SSI 2000/15)

Two statutory instruments remain before us—the Food (Animal Products from Belgium) (Emergency Control) (Scotland) Order 2000, (SSI 2000/15); and the Animal Feedingstuffs from Belgium (Control) (Scotland) Regulations 2000, (SSI 2000/16). In both instances, this committee is the secondary committee, and will report to the Health and Community Care Committee, which is the lead committee. No officials are with us today to discuss them.

I would like to start by discussing the first order, which is item 1(b) on the agenda. We have received explanatory leaflets and documents.

I am sorry that no one is here to answer questions. We all discovered during extensive lobbying from our pig industry that, since the dioxin scares in Belgium, imports of Belgian pigmeat to this country have increased by about 24 per cent. Although the papers that we have explain that some safeguards have been put in place to prevent products contaminated with dioxin coming here, I would have liked to ask questions about this issue, which is important both from the health point of view and from the pig farmers' point of view.

Paragraph 5 of the background note says:

"At the Standing Veterinary Committee (SVC) on 23-24 November 1999, Belgium reported that marketing of pigs and poultry has been prohibited since 15 October, unless from holdings certified as uncontaminated on the basis of testing."

Is that helpful?

I think that it was also stated somewhere else that, after the first outbreak, further outbreaks were found. I am not totally satisfied therefore, and I think that it is a pity that there is not an official here of whom we can ask questions, as they are questions of import.

I accept that the background note says that, "since 15 October", holdings have had to be certified. Presumably we take that as a sign that all is well.

Are there any further comments? If not, would it be appropriate for us to write up the comments made in the brief discussion between Alex Fergusson and Mike Rumbles and perhaps include them as concerns that we wish the Health and Community Care Committee to take into account when it considers the matter?

I agree that that would be a sensible way forward.

There is also the option of attending the Health and Community Care Committee meeting to hear what is said when the matter is discussed.

On what terms will this be written up? Will it be a matter of simply noting that there is concern?

It is just a note from clerk to clerk that highlights the brief discussion that took place and the issues that that discussion raised.

Other than that, there is no requirement to make a recommendation.