Plenary, 28 Apr 2005

Meeting date: Thursday, April 28, 2005

Official Report 744KB pdf

---

Parliamentary Bureau Motion

The next item of business is consideration of a Parliamentary Bureau motion. I ask Margaret Curran to move motion S2M-2731, on approval of a Scottish statutory instrument.

Motion moved,

That the Parliament agrees that the Food Protection (Emergency Prohibitions) (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning) (West Coast) (No.3) (Scotland) Order 2005 (SSI 2005/208) be approved.—[Ms Margaret Curran.]

The Scottish Conservative party will continue to oppose such Scottish statutory instruments, because we have consistently argued that the best approach is to adopt end-product testing.

I understand that the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care intends to hold in a fortnight's time a briefing session about shellfish monitoring. I hope that she will announce that, as a result of continued Conservative lobbying, Scottish fishermen will at last be able to operate under the same inspection code as the Irish and others do. I hope that the order is the last on amnesic shellfish poisoning that we must oppose.

Members are well aware that such emergency orders are required under European Community law and are put in place to protect consumers' health, because the presence of the toxins in shellfish poses a real risk to human health.

As well as serious public health considerations, we must recognise the potential for damage to the shellfish industry. A major incident of shellfish poisoning would damage hugely the Scottish industry's reputation, so I urge members to ignore the Conservatives and the Scottish National Party and to vote to protect public health by supporting the SSI.

The question on the motion will be put at decision time.