PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Hunting: Livestock (11 January 2018)

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether the feeding of fallen stock to hunting hounds in the absence of routine post-mortems is compliant with Commission Regulation (EU) No 142/2011.

Asked by:
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)

EU Regulations 1069/2009 and 142/2011 on Animal by–products provide for competent authorities in member states to authorise the feeding of fallen stock to hounds under conditions which ensure the control of risks to public and animal health provided the material comes from animals which were not killed or did not die as a result of the presence or suspected presence of a disease communicable to humans or animals. Farmers have a legal responsibility to regularly check the health of their animals and report any suspicion of notifiable diseases such as TB and BSE to the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Therefore there is no requirement for routine post mortems to ensure compliance with the regulations.

Answered by:
George Eustice (Conservative)
16 January 2018