Written question asked by Keith Hill (Labour) on Wednesday, 20 May 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 May 1998. It was answered by Lord Cunningham of Felling (Labour) on Thursday, 21 May 1998 on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food

Question: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, if he will comment on the responses to the public consultation on the White Paper, The Food Standards Agency: A Force for Change. - Including ref to information in Library.

Answer: Mr. Hill: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the responses to the public consultation on the White Paper, "The Food Standards Agency: A Force for Change". [43436] Dr. John Cunningham: The Government have received over a thousand responses to public consultation on the Food Standards Agency White Paper, reflecting the considerable importance that the British public attaches to issues of food safety and standards. The responses show widespread support for the general thrust of our proposals. The many useful comments we have received will inform the preparation of draft legislation, which will be published later in the summer for a final round of public consultation. We will also issue a detailed paper for separate consultation on the proposal to charge the food industry for a greater proportion of food safety costs. The Government are considering, alongside the White Paper responses, the comments made by the Agriculture Select Committee in its recent report on food safety, and will publish its response in due course. I have today placed in the Library of the House copies of those responses to the White Paper for which confidentiality was not requested by the respondent. These are accompanied by an alphabetical index and a summary of comments on individual parts of the Government's proposals. All will be available in the Library for the next six months.

Secondary information