Chamber and committees

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have advised me that there is no evidence of the presence of any cloned cattle in the UK, only the offspring of such animals, and that therefore no milk from cloned cattle has entered the food chain.

They have also advised me that they have received written assurance from all the farmers who have offspring of cloned cattle which are currently/or have been capable of producing milk, that no milk entered the food chain. Milk from these animals was disposed of in on farm slurry pits.

The FSA have advised me that their interpretation of the Novel Food Regulations is that milk from the offspring of cloned cattle, and any subsequent generations of offspring is covered by the regulations and would require authorisation before being placed on the market.

The FSA is reviewing its handling of the recent incident involving cloned cattle in order to learn lessons.

(a)               Sheep:

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have advised me that there is no evidence of the current presence of any cloned sheep in the UK, nor the offspring of such animals.

They have also advised me that there is no evidence of meat from any cloned sheep, or the offspring of cloned sheep having entered the food chain in Scotland.

(b)               Cattle:

The FSA have advised me that there is no evidence of the presence of any cloned cattle in the UK, only the offspring of such animals and that there is no evidence of meat from any cloned cattle having entered the food chain in Scotland.

They have also advised me that the meat from one bull, the offspring of a cloned cow, entered the food chain in Scotland in July 2009. The meat from this animal was supplied as part of a larger batch of meat from a number of animals to four butchers in Scotland and one in northern England.

It is extremely difficult to make any direct comparison between the cost in Scotland and the cost in England and Wales due to different ways in which EID has been implemented by the different administrations.

A full Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) was prepared by the Scottish Government as part of the public consultation and regulatory process that introduced the Sheep and Goat (Records, Identification and Movements) (Scotland) Order 2009 (the sheep EID Regulations). Full cost estimates of all implementation options for Scotland, including those associated with the slaughter derogation, are provided within the RIA.

The decision to electronically identify slaughter animals in Scotland was made in agreement with the majority of Scottish stakeholders as it provided a simple and efficient system for Scotland that maintained traditional market patterns. To assist with this decision I committed a further £1 million to the £3 million EID research pilot which all sheep farmers in Scotland can join as a partner farm and receive £0.40 per animal which can assist with the cost of electronic tags. This research pilot is unique within the UK.

A breakdown of these figures into the various categories now requested is not readily available at present.

To satisfy the requirements of felling control legislation, restructuring proposals are only agreed if they are in accordance with the principles of sustainable forest management. However, certain categories of felling (including felling associated with planning permission such as windfarms) are exempt from felling licence requirements, and no central records are held on exempt felling.

Forestry Commission Scotland records show that the total amount of private sector woodland approved for felling over the past five years without a replanting condition was 678 hectares.

Current work on improving the National Forest Inventory and implementing the policy on the Control of Woodland Removal will provide additional information on woodland loss.

The National Forest Estate Strategic Plan (published in 2009) states that the area of broadleaves on the national forest estate will be increased from the current level of 8% to around 20% of woodland cover. While this will mean a reduction in the relative area of productive conifer crop, improved planting stock and silviculture will be used to maximise production of quality timber. It is expected that private owners'' decisions on species choice will, within the overall context of sustainable forest management principles, reflect their individual management objectives. Production forecasts will continue to be published to assist the wood processing industries in making investment decisions based on reliable information about future timber supplies. The next conifer production forecast is due for publication towards the end of 2011.

A breakdown of these figures into the various categories now requested is not readily available at present.

To satisfy the requirements of felling control legislation, restructuring proposals are only agreed if they are in accordance with the principles of sustainable forest management. However, certain categories of felling (including felling associated with planning permission such as windfarms) are exempt from felling licence requirements, and no central records are held on exempt felling.

Forestry Commission Scotland records show that the total amount of private sector woodland approved for felling over the past five years without a replanting condition was 678 hectares.

Current work on improving the National Forest Inventory and implementing the policy on the Control of Woodland Removal will provide additional information on woodland loss.

A breakdown of these figures into the various categories now requested is not readily available at present.

To satisfy the requirements of felling control legislation, restructuring proposals are only agreed if they are in accordance with the principles of sustainable forest management. However, certain categories of felling (including felling associated with planning permission such as windfarms) are exempt from felling licence requirements, and no central records are held on exempt felling.

Forestry Commission Scotland records show that the total amount of private sector woodland approved for felling over the past five years without a replanting condition was 678 hectares.

Current work on improving the National Forest Inventory and implementing the policy on the Control of Woodland Removal will provide additional information on woodland loss.

We recognise the importance of sustaining a predictable and stable supply of good quality timber to encourage continued investment in Scotland''s timber processing industries. To help achieve this, the Scotland Rural Development Programme offers grants for productive conifers; these grants encourage the use of genetically improved planting material. In addition, Forestry Commission Scotland is currently developing a pilot scheme to lease land from farmers for creating new productive woodlands.

There have been 45,400 hectares of conifers restocked over the last five years. These figures are taken from Forestry Facts and Figures that are available on the Forestry Commission website at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7aqknx.

The following table provides details of all restocked woodland areas and includes conifer and broadleaves.

Area of Woodland Restocked (in Hectares)

Year (to 31 March)	Conifer	Broadleaved	Total
2006	7,800	1,200	9,000
2007	10,600	1,800	12,400
2008	10,800	1,800	12,600
2009	8,200	1,400	9,600
*2010	8,000	1,500	9,500
Total	45,400	7,700	53,100

Note: *2010 figure has been compiled from the Woodland Area, Planting and Restocking publication which contains provisional statistics for the year to March 2010.

We continue to improve the Rural Priorities payments process and our aim is to pay the vast majority of the 2010 annual recurrent claims by the end of March 2011. This is in line with the payments target for the long-established Less Favoured Area Support Scheme, which is another element of the SRDP.