Tories demand ban on meat imports

6 April 2001



Tories demand ban on meat imports

By FWi staff

TORY leader William Hague has called for an immediate ban on meat imports from high-risk countries to help Britain recover from foot-and-mouth.

“Foot-and-mouth almost certainly entered the United Kingdom through the importation of infected meat,” he said.

“We should take immediate steps to strengthen Britains defences against animal disease by imposing unilateral precautionary restrictions.”

The restrictions on imports would cover meat from countries where foot-and-mouth is endemic or has recently occurred, Mr Hague added.

Eradicating the disease must be a priority and rapid burial of carcasses should be the preferred method of disposal, he said.

“On-farm burial is a much simpler procedure that can be completed in hours rather than days. Its use should be increased.”

He also called for greater use of the Army, sticking by his call for the military to have full operational control over burial and incineration on farms.

Launching the strategy on Thursday (5 April), Mr Hague said there needed to be thinking about the long-term recovery of the countryside.

Compensation should be paid for farmers for irrecoverable losses, he said.

Meanwhile, shadow agriculture minister Yim Yeo has demanded that the Ministry of Agriculture provides more accurate information on slaughter times.

He has asked agriculture minister Nick Brown for information about the time taken between reported cases of foot-and-mouth disease and slaughter of animals.

“The information your Ministry is publishing at present makes it impossible to judge whether or not the target times [are] being met,” he said.