To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his latest estimate is of the cost of the foot and mouth outbreak to the (a) public purse and (b) agriculture industry. (164394)

DEFRA’s current estimate of the economic cost to the UK livestock sector of movement restrictions and controls on exports, imposed as a result of foot and mouth disease (FMD) and bluetongue, is over £100 million.

As at 12 October, the total forecast cost of the FMD and bluetongue outbreaks to DEFRA and its agencies was approximately £47 million.