QUESTION TO THE MINISTER OF STATE AT DEFRA FOLLOWING HIS STATEMENT IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON HORSEMEAT
Nicholas Soames’s question to the Minister of State at DEFRA following his Statement in the House of Commons on Horsemeat.
Nicholas Soames (Mid Sussex) (Con): Does my hon. Friend agree that our right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has put together one of the biggest operations of its type ever in the European Union to secure a result across the whole of the European Union? Will he acknowledge that the use of bute is grossly exaggerated? It is used, but nothing like as much as is claimed.
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr David Heath): I do not resile from the fact that phenylbutazone should not be present in horsemeat that is presented for human consumption; let us be absolutely clear. However, my right hon. Friend is right to say that the actions that have now been put in place—my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is at this moment at Europol and Eurojust in The Hague, securing police and justice co-ordination on this matter—are unprecedented. It is extremely welcome that European authorities are now getting to grips with the problem.
Hansard
14 February 2013
Vol 558
No 117
Columns 1050 -1051