Health and Community Care Committee, 21 Nov 2001

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 21, 2001

Official Report 125KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning)<br />(West Coast) (No 10) (Scotland)<br />Order 2001 (SSI 2001/406)

We move on to agenda item 4.

The Subordinate Legislation Committee has nothing to report on the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (No 10) (Scotland) Order 2001 and no comments have been received from members.

May I ask a question, convener? Can the minister give us an update, perhaps at a later date, on what the research has shown so far? The situation has been going on for about two years, and I understand that he was looking into it quite rigorously.

A detailed letter is being sent to the committee—the person from the Food Standards Agency Scotland who is dealing with the matter is on holiday, for which I apologise.

I have a brief note with me and can advise members that, over the next three years, the Food Standards Agency is funding research that is worth almost £1 million so that we can learn about shellfish toxins. Work on investigations into the causative agent for amnesic shellfish poisoning in shellfish harvested from Scottish waters is already under way, as is work on investigations into the development of methods for dealing with, and surveying, recently discovered toxins in UK shellfish. Work on the assessment and validation of a commercial, rapid, qualitative assay for the detection of ASP and paralytic shellfish poisoning in the UK monitoring programme as an end-product test is also under way. A number of other research projects are expected to come on stream in the next few months. A letter with more detail will be sent when the official returns from holiday.

Thank you.

Motion moved,

That the Health and Community Care Committee recommends that the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (No 10) (Scotland) Order 2001 be approved.—[Malcolm Chisholm.]

Motion agreed to.

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Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning)<br />(West Coast) (No 11) (Scotland)<br />Order 2001 (SSI 2001/420)

The Subordinate Legislation Committee has nothing to report on the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (No 11) (Scotland) Order 2001 and no comments have been received from members.

Motion moved,

That the Health and Community Care Committee recommends that the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (No 11) (Scotland) Order 2001 be approved.—[Malcolm Chisholm.]

Motion agreed to.

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Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning)<br />(West Coast) (No 12) (Scotland)<br />Order 2001 (SSI 2001/423)

The Subordinate Legislation Committee has nothing to report on the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (No 12) (Scotland) Order 2001 and no comments have been received from members.

Motion moved,

That the Health and Community Care Committee recommends that the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (No 12) (Scotland) Order 2001 be approved.—[Malcolm Chisholm.]

Motion agreed to.

I thank the minister for attending this morning's meeting. I now close the public part of the meeting.

Meeting continued in private until 11:18.