asked Her Majesty’s Government:

Whether any live turkey chicks have been imported from outside the United Kingdom since October 2006; and what are the controls on such imports.

My Lords, current records show that 354,745 live turkeys have been imported to the United Kingdom since last October. These included 141,046 day-old chicks from within the EU. Figures for imports into the United Kingdom of live day-old turkey chicks from outside the EU are not currently available. All consignments of live birds are liable to documentary and identity checks. These must come with an official health certificate guaranteeing compliance with European Union rules and freedom from disease.

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. Would he kindly convey to all the officials at Defra and to the local authorities concerned in the Norfolk outbreak my congratulations on the very efficient and effective way in which they dealt with that outbreak?

Hear, hear!

My Lords, they had clearly done their homework beforehand and got it right, unlike with the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

In addition to the checks made on these chicks, what checks have been made on the movements of animals, people and vehicles that have travelled between the Bernard Matthews premises in Suffolk and the partnership premises and the infected area in Hungary?

My Lords, first, I thank the noble Countess for her appreciation of the work of Defra, which I think was supported by the whole House. A lot of planning has gone into this in terms of exercises over a long period, and the department put into place exactly what was planned.

An enormous amount of work is going on in the laboratories checking the movements of people, animals, birds and lorry movements between various plants. Indeed, the laboratory still does not know—and will not know until later today—the precise DNA structure of the H5N1 virus in Suffolk and what was discovered in the outbreak in Hungary. Even if they are found out to be the same, there is no proof of transmission. By the way, although I said that about 141,000 day-old chicks had been imported, none of those chicks came from Hungary.

My Lords, I add my thanks to the Minister and the Government for the expedition and effectiveness of the work that they undertook from the time when they were called to this outbreak.

I have two supplementary questions. First, are the Government satisfied that they were called in soon enough to this outbreak, or would it have been better if they could have been called in earlier? Secondly, this outbreak gives the appearance of being totally under control, for which we should all be extremely thankful. It would be reassuring to know that the State Veterinary Service was testing the other sheds on that particular turkey farm to see whether antibodies are appearing in any of those other buildings. Although we think that the biosecurity is good, these viruses have rather sneaky habits.

My Lords, active work is going on in patrols not only on the other sheds in the farm but in the controlled area—the protection zone of three kilometres—and the 10-kilometre surveillance zone. That is the whole purpose of those zones being put in place. Then there are the other issues relating to the ban of bird shows and pigeon racing and—I think from today—on shooting game birds in that zone, because shooting disturbs wild birds. So there is effective work going on and a constant surveillance programme. These controls will remain for some time, notwithstanding that the sheds have been disinfected; I do not know whether they have all been done. It is a large enterprise because it is a large factory and checks are being made, not only in that factory but in other factories in that three-kilometre zone.

My Lords, from these Benches we add the view that Defra contained the outbreak very well this time.

Are the checks on the day-old chicks done visually? If not, are some kept back as samples—because a day-old chick might well be carrying the virus and it might not be apparent? Clearly, the chicks are imported and taken directly to the place where they will grow into adults. Exactly at what stage does it become apparent that a batch is free from disease?

My Lords, I understand that there are three types of check: a documentary check of the certificate accompanying the consignment; an identity check to ensure that the consignment matches the information on the document; and physical checks on the consignment, including on the temperature and conditions and checks for microbiological and chemical containment. The chick stays day-old only for a day.

Oh!

My Lords, it is more complicated than that. I understand that most of the chicks we import come from France, the Netherlands and Spain. When I said to officials, “They’re born one day and they’re here the next”, the reply was, “It is not quite as simple as that, Minister, because some of them may be born on the way”. The chicks go into the system but that does not mean that they are not checked by workers in the factories. I am not saying that they are checked in the same way as they are on the lorries, but there is constant surveillance on large poultry farms. I have seen for myself, not at a turkey farm but at a large broiler farm, that constant checks are made on the birds’ health.