European Committee, 05 Nov 2001

Meeting date: Monday, November 5, 2001

Official Report 240KB pdf

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Convener's Report

Item 2 is the convener's report. I received a letter from John Home Robertson, which has been circulated to members, about the recent decision of the European Commission's Standing Veterinary Committee to reject proposals to recommend lamb exports from Scotland. I understand that that committee might meet later this week. However, we do not know what the likely outcome of that meeting will be or what might happen if there is a second decision against exporting Scottish lamb. Before I give the floor to John Home Robertson, I invite him to declare any relevant interests. Other members should also feel free to do so.

I refer to my declaration of interests in the register of members' interests.

I invite you to speak on the lamb export issue.

I will speak briefly. Regarding the declaration of interests, I referred to that matter in the postscript of my letter.

We have all seen recent press comment about the ban on exports. Those of us who have rural or semi-rural constituencies will have heard complaints about the matter. There is the continuing problem of the illegal ban on beef exports from Britain to France, which is the subject of legal action by the European Commission. That action will take a long time—which is intolerable—but it is purely political. Now, after the foot-and-mouth outbreak, we have a ban on sheep exports. The veterinary advice is that Scottish lamb should be available to export. However, it seems that one or more European Governments are using their political muscle in the Standing Veterinary Committee simply to play the matter to the advantage of their producers. That sort of thing brings the European Union into disrepute in all sorts of sectors. I wonder whether there is any way in which the European Committee can address the matter.

Do members have any comments?

Is it legitimate for us to make an appeal to the Standing Veterinary Committee, or can we do so only through the United Kingdom representatives?

We can make our concerns clear to UK Government ministers, who are already aware of the matter.

Ross Finnie, the Minister for Environment and Rural Development, is also aware of the matter.

The crunch will come later this week if there is no movement on the matter. It is important that the Parliament registers its support for the minister's stance.

The Commission has taken a similar stance.

We should register our support.

We will keep our eyes on the situation and, based on the outcome later this week, draft appropriate letters. I thank John Home Robertson for raising the matter.