Chamber and committees

The European Health Insurance Card entitles people who are ordinarily resident in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to access state provided healthcare that is necessary in the event of illness or accident during short term visits to Scotland, for example on holiday or on a business trip. This arrangement has no bearing on EU state pensioners who choose to retire to Scotland.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Fishmeal is a restricted protein which can only be fed to non-ruminants such as pigs, poultry and farmed fish. It can also be included in milk replacers for feeding to unweaned ruminants.

There are strict separation requirements to prevent contamination with ruminant feed or allowing ruminants access to restricted protein feed.

Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency are responsible for the authorisation of premises producing feed containing restricted proteins, registering farms using feed containing restricted proteins where ruminants are kept and registering hauliers transporting bulk restricted proteins.

The Council Regulation (EC) No. 1198/2006 on the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) defines the framework for community support for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector, fisheries areas and inland fishing (this includes all activities of production, processing and marketing of fisheries and aquaculture products). Under the EFF Marine Scotland has supported the activities identified in the table below. Additionally, since 2010 the EFF has funded Seafood Scotland to the tune of £0.5m to support the sustainable growth of the Scottish seafood sector. (NB the figures provided include both Marine Scotland funding and co-financing from the European Commission.)

There is no requirement for either producers or veterinary practitioners to report suspected cases of Schmallenberg disease. However, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) has written to all Scottish veterinary practices inviting them to identify and report potential incidents of Schmallenberg infection in sheep and cattle.

Scottish Agricultural College Consulting Veterinary Services (a division of SRUC) and Moredun will investigate clinical cases of disease in livestock at a subsidised price; investigations into cases where Schmallenberg disease is a possible diagnosis incur no additional cost. SRUC can also offer free testing of cattle when acute clinical cases of Schmallenberg are suspected. Information from those investigations is shared with Scottish Government and the AHVLA.

The Scottish Government’s budget for animal disease surveillance in 2012-13 is £5.18 million, that budget includes surveillance for new and emerging diseases.

Sustainable fishing resources is defined as fish stocks being fished according to long term management plans leading to year-on-year fishing effort which exploits stocks at maximum sustainable yield, Fishing mortality sustainable yield (Fmsy), taking into account the fact that eco-system interactions may not allow Fmsy to be sustained simultaneously across all stocks in a mixed fishery.

Maximum sustainable yield is defined as the highest average yield of fish that can be taken from a stock indefinitely while maintaining the stock in a sustainable condition. From year to year the yield will fluctuate in response to natural fluctuations in the numbers of young fish recruiting to the population and it is not possible to control this process. However, by consistently applying a fishing rate (proportion of fish population removed each year) which is calculated to result in maximum sustainable yield (i.e. Fmsy), managers can ensure fishery conditions for generating the highest sustainable yield on average and over the long term.

Scottish Development International (SDI), as the trade and investment arm of Scottish Government, has played a major role in promoting Scottish salmon in key international markets. This includes supporting and promoting the Scottish salmon industry at annual international events such as the European Seafood Exposition (Brussels), the world's largest seafood show, Gulfoods (Dubai) and at the International Boston Seafood Show (Boston).

More specifically SDI, in conjunction with Seafood Scotland and Scottish salmon producers' organisation, is currently co-funding a two year project to support and promote Scottish salmon and seafood in key emerging markets, including initially China and Japan. This project is match funded by the European Fisheries Fund. Part of this project is a sponsorship agreement with the World Association of Chefs Societies, which will see the 10 million member body commit exclusively to using Scottish langoustine and salmon in its global cooking competitions.

I recently led a trade delegation to Japan and China which had a strong representation from the Scottish salmon industry. Part of the marketing activity was launching an in-store promotion in the Ole retail store in Shanghai which opened with a traditional fish opening ceremony where Scottish salmon took centre stage.

Assessment of imported food (where imported food is food that originates outside of the European Union) (EU) takes place on an ongoing basis. A proportion of imported food is subject to documentary, identity and physical checks on entry to the EU with additional checks and sampling carried out on products of animal origin and particular products from certain countries where there is a known human or animal health risk. Once imported food has passed import controls, it may be moved freely around the EU.

EU food safety law requires that food is safe when it leaves the establishment of production and is placed on the market. The Food and Veterinary Office of the EU audits standards both within member states and countries outside of the EU.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) provides annual sampling grants to local food authorities for imported food analysis. In addition, food authorities carry out imported food checks at food business establishments as part of their routine inspection programme.

The Scottish Government is supporting local authorities across Scotland to further increase recycling performance. On funding, for example, we are making £5 million available to local authorities over the 2012-13 period to help establish household food waste collections and we also recently announced that a further £1.2 million is now available to support improvements at household waste recycling centres and to increase collections of glass. Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) also provide funding to help councils roll out recycling services to tenements for recycling on the go, communication and engagement work, service improvements and staff training. Additional, comprehensive non financial support is also available from ZWS.

Regarding direct support to Fife Council, ZWS has provided support to undertake a nappies collection trial and provided technical support to procure the Anaerobic Digestion facility in Dunfermline. Funding has also been provided for new wheeled bins to help extend the council’s plastic recycling system, introduce Recycle for Scotland branding and for the development of a sorting facility to recover additional recyclables from black bag waste.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the carbon dioxide emissions of the Scottish fishing fleet.