Health and Community Care Committee, 27 Jun 2001

Meeting date: Wednesday, June 27, 2001

Official Report 128KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

The first instrument is the Sweeteners in Food Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2001 (SSI 2001/212). No comments have been received from members on this negative instrument. The Subordinate Legislation Committee has no comment to make and no motion to annul has been lodged. It is therefore suggested that the committee make no recommendations on the instrument. Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

We move to the emergency affirmative instruments, the first of which is the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (Scotland) Order 2001 (SSI 2001/237). The Subordinate Legislation Committee has nothing to report. We are joined by Malcolm Chisholm, who seems to be an awfully long way away over there. Does anybody have any comments or questions on the instrument?

Is any research into the possible causes of the outbreak of paralytic shellfish poisoning under way? The disease seems to have been around the Stornoway area for a year or two, and has been there before. Is there any evidence of what has caused the outbreak? [Interruption.]

The microphones are not working. Will the minister and Martin Reid please move to another set of microphones?

I apologise for causing all this trouble.

It is not your fault.

Can we now return to Martin Reid's answer to Jamie McGrigor's question?

I think that I can remember the question.

There has been quite a lot of research on toxins in general, not only on paralytic shellfish poisoning, but on amnesic shellfish poisoning and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning. The Food Standards Agency Scotland is spending about £1 million over the next three years on research into the causes of toxins and the ways in which we deal with them. So the answer is that there has been a fair commitment to deal with the problem.

Because PSP is particularly dangerous when compared with ASP at the moment, it is quite high on our list of priorities. However, the agency is being quite careful about the issue and we do not want to make too many commitments on changing what we are currently doing. That is different from the situation with ASP, on which we have just issued a consultation document. However, as I said, large-scale research on the matter is on-going.

As the Subordinate Legislation Committee has nothing to report on this particular order, I ask Malcolm Chisholm to move it.

Motion moved,

That the Health and Community Care Committee recommends that the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (Scotland) Order 2001 be approved.—[Malcolm Chisholm.]

Motion agreed to.

We come to the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning) (Orkney) (No 2) (Scotland) Order 2001. As the Subordinate Legislation Committee has nothing to report, I ask the deputy minister to move it.

Motion moved,

That the Health and Community Care Committee recommends that the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning) (Orkney) (No 2) (Scotland) Order 2001 be approved.—[Malcolm Chisholm.]

Motion agreed to.