LOW THROUGHPUT ABATTOIRS

Early day motion 372, tabled 1 March 1999 by Lord Lansley (Conservative). Signed by 22 members.

That this House believes low throughput abattoirs to be vital to the survival of small and organic meat farmers, that they provide a less stressful environment for the animal, that generally, animals are drawn from local farms, so travelling times are shorter and that they enable private kills to be undertaken with full hygiene control; notes the plight of many low throughput abattoirs caused by the extra costs placed on them to controls on specified risk material; notes that the survival of such abattoirs is in the interest of competition and consumer choice; further notes that there is a lack of qualified personnel to supervise the cutting and that European Directive 64/433 demanding these controls does not necessarily apply to all low throughput abattoirs; and calls on the Government to mitigate the effects of these controls and promote the interests of fair distribution costs to the consumer by having a fixed price headage rate for assessors and spot-checks rather than the continuous attendance regime.

Signatures by party: Conservative 19, Plaid Cymru 2, Liberal Democrat 1.