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.