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Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food

Answer

Mr. Levitt: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of imported animal carcases is tested for the presence of hormones. [57299] Mr. Rooker: All EU Member States are required to have national monitoring plans to detect residues and substances in animal tissues and products, including meat, and to report the results of their monitoring to the European Commission each year. These monitoring plans apply to the production process and, as such, provide the necessary guarantees in respect of products in free circulation in the Single Market as a whole, not just in the Member State concerned. Because of these Single Market rules, checks for the presence of residues in carcases originating in other Member States are not routinely carried out in the UK. All meat imported into the EU must originate from approved third countries. Responsibility for approving third countries rests with the European Commission, who must take account of information on matters which include legislation on the use, authorisation, distribution and marketing of substances which might be administered to livestock. Inclusion and retention on the list of approved countries is subject to the submission of acceptable monitoring plans which provide guarantees at least equivalent to those provided by EU Member States. In addition, the European Commission's guidance on the testing of meat imported from third countries states that at least 1 per cent. of consignments which are subject to physical checks at Border Inspection Posts should be randomly sampled for residues, contaminants and bacteria such as salmonella and coliforms. For red meat, 1 per cent. of consignments subject to physical checks equates to 0.2 per cent. (i.e. 1 in 500) of all consignments. In the year to 31 August 1998, 3.7 per cent. of consignments of all products of animal origin imported into Great Britain from third countries were sampled by the local authorities responsible for Border Inspection Posts. The figures do not separately identify the numbers of checks on carcases or the number of residue checks carried out.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

318 c430-1W; 57299

Session

1997-98

Subjects

EU law Hormones Imports Meat Testing

Contains statistics

Yes