Chamber and committees

Issue of permits toallow the removal of shark fins on board vessels in Community waters and for allCommunity vessels around the world, commenced in 2004.

Since then permitshave been issued, as follows, to Scottish registered fishing vessels which are partof the Anglo-Spanish fleet:

2004: 7

2005: 8

2006: 7

2007: 7.

The Scottish Governmentis committed to improving access for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) topublic contract opportunities. Work is underway to establish the volume of publicprocurement already placed with SMEs and consideration will be given to targetsin the first half of 2008.

The Scottish Government believes that social enterprises have a part to play in public procurement and considerable guidance is already available to assist and support them. The establishment of the cross-sector procurement policy forum will enable best practice to be shared amongst public bodies and this includes best practice in respect of the part that social enterprises can play.

The impact of thedisease on sales would depend on various factors including the extent to which productionwas disrupted and the timing of the outbreak. The export of meat and meat productsis not affected by bluetongue.

The Scottish Governmenthas commissioned a study to explore in further detail the potential economic effectsof bluetongue disease in Scotland. The study is expected to report towards theend of February 2008.

Procurement policyis being addressed as part of the wider procurement reform programme and a cross-sectorpolicy forum has been established to support the development of general procurementpolicy and guidance. In relation to policy on food procurement, and following thedebate in this chamber on 7 November 2007, the Scottish Government,is developing a national food policy for Scotland. I hope that one of the benefits of that will be a renewed focus on thefood procurement guidelines that were issued in 2004 and which are currently beingrevised for re-issue.

Live exports wouldbe banned from any area covered by a bluetongue restriction zone. However, the exportof meat and meat products from these areas to the rest of the European Union wouldcontinue to be permitted. Export to 3rd countries are also permitted subject totheir agreement.

Scotland is currently free of disease and the ScottishGovernment will continue to work with industry to maintain disease freedom and associatedmovement restrictions for as long as possible.

Bluetongue vaccinefor the strain of virus currently circulating in England and parts of mainland Europe is currently under development and it is hopedthat it will be available by mid-2008. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs tender was very welcome news for the positivesignal it sends to vaccine manufacturers about potential demand. It is expectedthat such a vaccine resource would be used where it is most appropriate to the controlof bluetongue virus in the United Kingdom.

Under current EuropeanUnion rules it is not permissible to use vaccine in bluetongue free areas such asScotland and the Scottish Government will continueto work with stakeholders and other UK Government’s to keep the size of any bluetonguevaccine bank under review and to ensure that it is capable of meeting any Scottishneeds.

No. The disease iscurrently present in Germany, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and England.

The plan for respondingto bluetongue within the UK, including within Scotland, is outlined in the document “UK Bluetongue Control Strategy”,which was published in early August and is available on the Scottish Governmentand Defra websites. This strategy, on which any response to bluetongue is based,was jointly developed and agreed by UK Governments, experts, and industry.

The main focus ofa response to a bluetongue outbreak in Scotland would be to declare a 20km radiuscontrol zone around the infected premises, along with a minimum 100km radiusprotection zone and a surveillance zone extending 50km beyond that, and to introducemovement restrictions within these zones. Movement of animals within or out of thesezones would only be permitted in certain circumstances and under licence with certaincompulsory precautions, e.g. testing for disease or the use of insecticides. Routineon-farm use of insecticides would not be required. As bluetongue is a vector (i.e.midge) borne disease, large scale culling of animals is not expected.

There are three routesby which bluetongue could potentially enter Scotland: importation of infected animals, windborne spread of infected midges andmovement of infected animals from affected parts of Great Britain.

Currently only importsfrom the non-infected areas of the EU are permitted and these imported ruminantsare routinely tested for bluetongue virus. In addition, the Met Office and the bluetonguereference laboratory have combined forces to monitor potential midge incursion.Movement of animals from an area (the Bluetongue Temporary Area) in eastern England, within which positive laboratory results have been obtained,are currently prohibited.

We have also sentinformation on bluetongue symptoms and biosecurity advice to veterinary practicesand farmers in Scotland; this information is also available on the Scottish Government website. Press releases and briefings with industry have highlightedthe important role of those on the ground in being vigilant for signs of the diseaseand reporting any suspicions promptly.