During a debate yesterday, raised to highlight the difficulties in legally disposing of Fallen Stock (livestock that has died of natural causes or been humanely destroyed) on the Isle of Wight, Dan Norris MP, Minister of State in the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), gave an unexpected commitment to visit the Island in person to find a solution to the long-outstanding problem.

The debate was called by the Island’s MP, Andrew Turner, following a court case brought in April under the Animal By-Product regulations. The case was thrown out by the judge as an ‘abuse of process’.

During his speech Mr Turner outlined the history of the issue and the particular difficulties faced by Island farmers in dealing with Fallen Stock following the introduction of new EU legislation in May 2003. He also drew attention to the clear duty of the Government to provide ‘adequate arrangements and infrastructure’ to enable farmers to comply with the law. Mr Turner highlighted that an emergency measure, introduced in May this year to allow legal burial of farm animals, can only be seen as an interim solution and work must progress towards a proper long term solution. The Minister acknowledged the problems and announced that he would come to the Island and talk to interested parties to find a ‘medium and long term solution’ to the issue.

Speaking after the debate Mr Turner said:

“I was somewhat surprised that the Minister gave a commitment to visit to the Island, but very pleased. It demonstrates that DEFRA and the Minister are finally taking the issue seriously and have acknowledged that the current arrangements can remain in place only on a temporary basis. The NFU have been working hard for years to make progress, but were frustrated because nobody seemed to be listening to them.

“There are difficult issues that need to be addressed. During my speech I called for some innovative thinking if a straightforward solution is not the best outcome for our particular circumstances. Some examples might be a pilot project for bio-digestion (which harnesses natural decomposing processes and as a by-product produces green energy) or sharing facilities with St Mary’s Hospital (which currently ships all clinical and hazardous waste to the mainland at considerable cost). I am pleased to say the Minister seemed receptive to these suggestions and indicated that they and other ideas can be considered seriously.

“I hope that we can now move forward and I look forward to welcoming the Minister to the Island. If Islanders have any different ideas on how this problem should be approached I would be happy to put them forward to DEFRA for consideration.”

He went on to say:

“Adjournment debates, such as this one, are the subject of a ballot which all MPs can enter to highlight important constituency matters – doing so can sometimes make a difference. In 2005 I raised issues about some other EU legislation which designated deceased pets as ‘landfill’ and threatened the future of ‘Pets at Rest’ a pet cemetery on the Island. I am pleased to say that, after some months, it did bring about a successful conclusion, both for Pets at Rest and similar businesses elsewhere in the UK. I am hopeful that we will also achieve a good result this time.”

The full debate can be read here :
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090623/halltext/90623h0009.htm#09062367000004

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