Tag: Kerry McCarthy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the risk that meat not fit for human consumption could enter the human supply chain; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce such risks.

Jane Ellison

Food businesses have responsibility for producing safe meat. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) makes sure that meat not fit for human consumption does not enter the food chain, through the deployment of staff carrying out official controls or through the work of local authorities nationally. The provision of monitoring, sampling, surveillance and inspection across the links of the food chain are carried out in approved and registered food businesses. The legislation governing the production of meat is set out in various European Union and national regulations.

Key areas of control are:

– enforcement of strict regulatory standards and assessment of records relating to Food Business Operators’ food safety management systems;

– approval and registration of meat premises ensuring that only premises that meet the minimum standards set may operate;

– identification and labelling, animal health, animal welfare and veterinary hygiene activities;

– the enforcement of EU and national rules relating to production and processing of meat , and its storage and distribution is assessed through risk based audits and unannounced inspections;

– a network of veterinary research laboratories following sampling activities to test meat products for veterinary medicine residues, campylobacter etc.;

– close co-operation with the FSA and other Government Agencies on food safety issues;

– reporting of food fraud issues and wider cascade of topical areas of concern for focused attention and actions; and

– reporting of meat rejection results for disease surveillance and assessing the risk with a view to disease eradication and control programmes.

In slaughterhouses, official veterinarians carry out checks on live animals presented for slaughter, with inspectors carrying out post-mortem inspection checks of carcases and offal. In accordance with EU and national legislation, only meat that has passed stringent safety checks by the FSA will be health marked and allowed to enter the food chain.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 112W, on alcoholic drinks: counterfeit manufacturing, if he will carry out an assessment of the (a) scale of and (b) effect on public health of counterfeit alcohol in the UK.

Jane Ellison

I have been asked to reply.

There are slightly different issues concerning illicit, i.e. untaxed, smuggled and diverted alcohol, or counterfeit alcohol, i.e. attempting to copy existing well-known brands.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works in partnership with all United Kingdom local authorities to tackle the production, distribution and sale of illicit alcohol. HM Revenue and Customs also works collaboratively with other UK enforcement agencies to tackle this threat. The Department of Health is concerned with any implications of these issues for alcohol policy.

The feasibility and costs of making any reliable estimates of the illicit and counterfeit alcohol markets would need to be considered. Government has no plans to make such estimates, other than the estimates published by HM Revenue and Customs for the illicit spirits market at:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/measuring-tax-gaps

We will jointly keep these issues under review.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-04-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of steps taken by the Burmese government to (a) prevent sexual violence and (b) end impunity for sexual offences allegedly committed by the Burmese military.

Mr Hugo Swire

During his visit to the UK last year, President Thein Sein welcomed the initiative of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), on preventing sexual violence in conflict (PSVI). We continue to encourage Burma to join 146 nations and endorse the declaration on PSVI. The launch in October 2013 of the Burmese government’s National Strategic Plan for the Advancement of Women (NSPAW) committed Burma “to develop and strengthen laws, systems, structures and practices to eliminate all forms of Violence Against Women and Girls and to respond to the needs of women and girls affected by violence”.

We are clear, however, that all of these steps need to be accompanied by actions leading to real progress in Burma. We remain concerned by continued reports of sexual violence against women, including reports of crimes committed by members of the Burmese military. We regularly lobby the Burmese government on the rights of women, particularly on preventing sexual violence in conflict areas. We continue to make clear that where serious crimes have been committed, those who have perpetrated them should be held accountable for their actions. I raised the issue of sexual violence directly with senior Ministers, the Commander in Chief and the Northern Commander during my visit to Burma in January. More recently, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised the issue in a call with the Burmese Foreign Minister on 28 April.