To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, of the 15,854 lambs and sheep marked blue and released for further fattening between 28 September 1987 and 10 January 1988 in Cumbria, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, how many above the 1,000 kg action level were remonitored before 1 June in each of the four countries; and how many were monitored and tagged for slaughter before 1 June in each of the four respective countries.

Of the 15,854 sheep which had been marked blue between 28 September 1987 and 10 January 1988, 5,578 were remonitored before 1 June 1988. 33 out of these 5,578 remained above the action level. However, these animals all passed on subsequent re-testing. All 5,578, therefore, were ear-tagged as eligible for slaughter before 1 June.The breakdown by country of the remonitoring is as follows: