Vol. 362 No. 1
(Limerick West) asked the Minister for Agriculture if he is satisfied that a complete ban on the use of hormones in beef production from 1 January next is justified; if his attention has been drawn to a report by a top scientist appointed by the EC to investigate the whole subject of hormones which has revealed that there are no scientific grounds for a ban on the use of either natural or synthetic growth promoters; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
28.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will clarify his Department's attitude regarding the EC directive amending Directive 81/602/EEC concerning the prohibition of certain hormonal substances used in animal production.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 28 together. While I have seen reports of comments by the scientist referred to, the position is that the EC scientific group headed by him have not yet submitted their final report on hormone implants to the Commission.
At this stage the Council of Ministers has taken no decision on the proposal by the Commission to ban the use of hormone implants in livestock production. Ideally, any decision in this matter should be based on a scientific assessment of the effects of the use of the hormones. However, this country as a major beef exporter must also take account of the views and requirements of our customers abroad if we wish to continue to export to them. In this connection it has to be recognised that consumers in some member states have become increasingly concerned about the use of hormone implants in livestock production and that certain member states have in fact already prohibited their use. This has serious implications for our trade with those countries even though there is at the present time no scientific evidence that the five types of hormones in use, particularly the three natural ones, have harmful effects on human health.
(Limerick West): Will the Minister indicate the stance he will take when this matter comes before the Council of Ministers? Will he consider the imposition of a penalty scheme, similar to that operated by co-ops in regard to antibiotics in milk?
The matter is before the Council of Ministers. It has been discussed at great length for some time past but a decision has not been taken although there was a specific proposal from the Commission. I might add that the latest proposal from the Commission is quite different from the original proposal. The latest proposal is greatly influenced by an opinion delivered by the European Parliament some six or eight weeks ago. That opinion was very heavily in favour of the prohibition of all hormones. Prior to that the Commission had expressed the view that only synthetic hormones should be banned because the evidence as to whether they caused a health hazard was inconclusive. At that time the Commission did not propose a ban on natural hormones but since the decision of the Parliament was delivered they changed their attitude and are now proposing that all hormones, synthetic and natural, be banned.
The banning of any substance is not a very logical thing to do when the scientific evidence available indicates that it presents no danger. The scientific commission set up five years ago clearly stated in a finding issued two years ago that the three natural hormones which we use here do not produce any health hazards. At a Council meeting I expressed the view that it was totally irresponsible to ban something which has been shown scientifically not to have any ill-effects. On the other hand we have a very serious problem on our hands in that political movements, particularly the Green parties, on the Continent, are campaigning heavily for the prohibition of all hormones irrespective of the scientific evidence. We must bear in mind that the Governments of those countries are tending to yield, if they have not already done so, to that pressure. We must further bear in mind that we export something in the region of £200 million to £250 million worth of beef to those mainland EC countries.
I am sorry, Minister——
I shall finish. There is further the possibility — and we should be very concerned about this — that our beef export markets to those countries could be in very serious danger if we were not to accept the decision of the Commission.
I must move now to Priority Questions. I call Question No. 38.
