Written question asked by James Paice (Conservative) on Thursday, 27 October 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 31 October 2005. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Monday, 7 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Birds

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information she has received on the number of wild birds traded into the European Union (a) in 2004 and (b) to date in 2005; and what checks have been made for avian influenza among these birds.

Answer: Figures from the EU-wide computer system used to record imports of animals and their products, known as TRACES, show that in 2004 67,480 captive birds were imported into the European Union. Of these 66,586 were imported into the UK.In 2005 120,639 captive birds were imported into the EU to date. Of these 119,856 were imported into the UK.These figures are for captive birds, as no distinction can be made between captive bred birds and wild caught birds. The figures do not include poultry. However there are discrepancies between these figures and the figures reported by CITES. We are concerned about these discrepancies between these figures and are urgently investigating them to resolve the problem.All imported captive birds must be held in quarantine for 30 days during which time a test must be carried out for the avian influenza virus.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 23813; 439 c13W;439 c13W
Session: 2005-06
Related items: Deposited Paper HINF 2006/2251
Saturday, 13 December 2003
Deposited papers
House of Commons; EU: Export Certification
Monday, 18 December 2006
Written questions
House of Lords; EU: Export Certification
Monday, 18 December 2006
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Birds Disease control Imports Avian influenza
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk