asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will now introduce further legislation to protect live animals exported for the purposes of slaughter.

No, Sir. I believe that the existing arrangements provide reasonable safeguards.

May I ask the hon. Gentleman if he is aware that there have been a number of reports recently of unnecessary cruelty? Will he undertake to look at this matter again?

Various cases of cruelty have been reported to us but upon investigation we have discovered that many of the allegations were unfounded.

Will the Minister bear in mind how important it is to safeguard these animals? Will he also bear in mind that the export of old cows, old ewes and old sows has been of tremendous importance to agriculture?

We do bear that very much in mind.