Health and Community Care Committee, 23 Feb 2000
Meeting date: Wednesday, February 23, 2000
Official Report
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Subordinate Legislation
Item 2 deals with two pieces of subordinate legislation: 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), both of which are negative instruments.
A motion has not been lodged recommending that nothing further be done under the first instrument. After consideration, the Subordinate Legislation Committee determined that the attention of Parliament need not be drawn to it.
The Rural Affairs Committee considered the instrument at its meeting on 15 February 2000. It was suggested to that committee that, since dioxin scares in Belgium, imports of pigmeat to this country had increased by about 24 per cent. It is clear that the Rural Affairs Committee is concerned about that matter, against the backdrop of the difficulties of which we are all aware in the Scottish pig industry.
Paragraph 5 of the explanatory memorandum that accompanied the instrument states that:
"marketing of pigs and poultry has been prohibited since 15 October, unless from holdings certified as uncontaminated on the basis of testing".
That explanation did not entirely convince the Rural Affairs Committee, because it was not clear whether all holdings certified as uncontaminated at 15 October had remained so, as further outbreaks may have occurred after that date. However, the Rural Affairs Committee agreed that observations on the level of imports of pigmeat from Belgium should be drawn to the attention of the Health and Community Care Committee, but that otherwise the regulations should be simply noted. Those comments relate to both the instruments before us.
Bearing that in mind, I suggest that we should decide that the committee does not wish to make any recommendation in relation to these instruments, but that we ask the Rural Affairs Committee to keep a watching brief on this issue, which it has done to date.
I know that this is a rather pedantic point, but the instruments came into force on 17 February. While we do not want to take further action on this occasion, we would not be able to in any event.
I will ask the clerk to bring that to the attention of the Procedures Committee.
The situation is not unique to this committee.
No, it is not. I believe that the Procedures Committee is considering this issue. Certainly, the way in which we deal with Scottish statutory instruments was discussed at the conveners committee, as was the fact that most arrive if not too late, then certainly very late on in the process.
Do members agree to that approach?
Members indicated agreement.