SEPRA News
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- Steel expansion
- Chico time!
- EU standards bleed Indian traders
- Scottish Agricultural Wages Board
- Avian Influenza
- NHS Scotland
- National Egg Conference
Steel expansion...
Another from the Steel camp! The "father founder figure" of SEPRA, Jim Steel is a Great Grandfather, and for the second time. Jimmy Steel's grandson James Anderson and his wife Catherine were blessed with a son Jack on Sunday. He weighed in at 6lb 19oz.
Chico time!
You’ve heard of Chico time, well this is Fiesta time. I hear also that residents around the Forfar area are keeping an eagle eye out for all the flash Fiestas with L-plates out on the local roads. A young 'Thompson', Andrew, who is 17 tomorrow, has got his L plates and a car. The first driving lesson takes place on his birthday at 9.30am. Father's hoping he'll pass first time, he’ll be able then to house pullets, load old hens and allow dad some spare time!
EU standards bleed Indian traders
EU standards bleed Indian traders. Indian exporters to the European Union are finding it increasingly difficult to comply with the EU's product and process standards, according to a survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry
In some cases, the cost of complying with the EU standards was as high as 65 per cent of the production cost of the goods, with the high cost of EU compliance certificates and the lack of availability of certifying agencies in the country making exporting to the EU difficult, the survey said. The cost of obtaining certificates required for exporting agricultural items, especially fruits, was high for small as well as big exporters, the survey said. India's proposal for approval of domestic egg processing units is pending with the EU authorities since 1997. Similarly, the authorities have not permitted exports from approved domestic milk units since 2001.
The above reminded me of how farming in UK has suffered and remains under threat from EU regulations. At times one wonders if the people in Brussels have a real understanding of the subjects which they consider and change. Just look at the present kerfuffle regarding church organ pipes and their lead content. Think of the rules and regulations regarding hygiene, salmonella, cage sizes etc. All these have added costs to each and every one of you. There are more than the Indians suffering!
Question marks remain over wages board
Two significant developments this week have raised further questions over the need for the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board. Firstly, an announcement was made that the National Minimum Wage will be rising by six per cent to £5.35 for most workers from 1 October 2006. Secondly, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland yesterday announced the abolition of its Agricultural Wages Board. This will of course add to the cost to produce a dozen eggs.
Avian Influenza
Avian Influenza is still in the headlines or mid-pages of the press and I thought the following might allow you to perhaps explain to anyone who registers a concern about bird flu and humans.
It's one of 16 varieties of avian influenza or bird flu. So far, it's the only one that's shown any ability to directly pass from one human to another. It has spread from Southeast Asia to China, Russia and now Europe.
American researchers now say the deadly H5N1 form of bird flu has split into two distinct strains, a development that could make it harder to develop vaccines to stop the spread of the disease.
Hong Kong, 1997.
Eighteen people are stricken with severe respiratory disease. Six of them
die. The cause – the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. The infection of humans
coincides with an epidemic of a particularly nasty bout of avian influenza in
Hong Kong's poultry population, caused by the same strain.
Health officials determine that close contact with live infected poultry was the source of human infection. It's the first time that evidence can be found that the virus had jumped directly from birds to humans.
Health officials order the destruction of Hong Kong's poultry population. More than 1.5 million birds are killed in three days. There are no more cases of direct transmission of the disease from birds to humans. Some health experts say the action may have averted a pandemic.
Antiviral drugs
Antiviral drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza block the flu virus from escaping
an infected cell and spreading further. But the drugs have to be taken within 48
hours of getting the flu. Canada has purchased 23 million doses of Tamiflu and
the UK Government is doing the same.
Vietnam, 2004
Eight new cases of avian influenza in people. Six people die. Health officials
order the culling of millions of birds to try to minimize the threat to people.
But killing millions of birds has not eliminated the threat to people from avian
flu. By this month March 10, 2006, 97 people in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand,
China, Indonesia, Turkey and Iraq had died from the disease.
Indonesia, 2005
A man and his two daughters die of H5N1, although none of them worked around
poultry. The WHO says it cannot rule out the possibility of human-to-human
transmission of avian flu in these cases.
October 2005
H5N1 was confirmed to have spread to fowl in Romania and Turkey. Days later,
a bird on the Greek island Oinousses was found to have avian flu, although
officials hadn't immediately identified the strain.
November 2005
The H5 strain hit Canada. Two wild ducks tested positive for H5N1 virus, but
not the dangerous strain of the flu hitting Southeast Asia.
The virus was also found in a commercial duck on a farm in Chilliwack, British Columbia. The food inspection agency maintained the virus does not pose a risk to humans, but ordered the slaughter of all birds on the farm as a caution. Every farm in a five-km radius was placed under quarantine. Agency officials said they've also isolated an H5N3 subtype in two birds from Quebec.
March 2006
This month, March 2006, seven people in Azerbaijan were diagnosed with H5N1.
Five of those seven people died, raising the number of humans killed by avian
flu to 103 worldwide. Though I believe these deaths are over a 3 year period.
Six of the Azerbaijan cases were from the south-eastern part of the country.
According to WHO, one possible source of the infection were the carcasses of
dead swans found in the region? Residents used the dead birds as a source of
feathers.
I am pleased to say that the suspected case in Orkney turned out not to be Avian Influenza. It was announced this morning, officially, that the restrictions on the farm in Orkney have been lifted. All tests proved negative both for Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease.
NHS Scotland
While
attending the health clinic this week for another MOT check-up I picked up a
most interesting leaflet. This had been produced by NHS Scotland.
A smart leaflet coloured in a blue/black print and titled Bird Flu. It said that the leaflet provided information about the potentially serious disease and how you could protect yourself.
There was no front-page pandemic fear, but good sound advice. It was a leaflet, which I thought would give relief to some of the public who have been bombarded with stories of how millions might die.
National Egg Conference
National Egg Conference, Sutton Coldfield, March 23rd
Your chairperson, Moira Henderson, attended this conference and from what I
hear asked the correct questions.
First speaker was Andrew Slade of DEFRA who made the point that there was minimal Government interference in the egg market that was devoid of any subsidies. Aled Griffiths from the audience, told that his problem was one of the disposal of old hens and that in Germany, the Government were gassing birds on site. However, Slade told Aled there was no help to come from UK government regarding old hen disposal.
Moira asked Slade following his statement that 66% of eggs were produced in cages, why can't the UK not offer help to this large volume of egg production, especially with the fear generated by the future 2012 cut-off date? Was this what he meant by ‘minimal Government‘ interference? The DEFRA official was unable to justify his description of minimal interference.
Stephen Pugh from the FSA told of a recent survey carried out on EU eggs for salmonella. With no UK eggs included in the 1,000 eggs test, 36 positives were found. I think most of them came from just two EU countries.
Moira, when tackled after the meeting, about her Lion-subsidised attendance at BEIC meetings replied that it was her insistence to FSA that in their UK tests for Salmonella that positives should be recorded as shell or inside shell. As you know in the test, only shell contaminations were found. In the original FSA suggestions, all those producers who were participating in the tests were to be named, possibly in the press. Positives for salmonella were to be publicly announced as ‘egg contaminated’. Moira’s suggestion and insistence saved a few blushes from some faces ! Another insistence from Moira at the same FSA discussions ensured that the publication in the press of those producers with positives were not named. Moira said that she felt her attendance at BEIC meetings was justified despite not being a Lion producer, as she supported and fought for the total UK egg Industry.
Dennis Surgenor
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