Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of differences between the law on animal welfare in transport in Northern Ireland and that in England, and of the impact upon trade.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
Northern Ireland operates under EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animal welfare during transport and related activities. In England, minor operability amendments have been made to this Regulation, which is now assimilated legislation and as such we do not expect there to be any impact on trade.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Wine (Revocation and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023, which amend current importer labelling requirements for wine, will apply to wine entering Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Wine (Revocation and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2023 will remove the importer labelling requirement for wine imported into England. The benefits of this change will also apply to wine being moved to Northern Ireland where the Windsor Framework Retail Movement Scheme green lane arrangements are used.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government why it is not possible to ban the export of live animals from Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill will not apply in Northern Ireland, to ensure that farmers in Northern Ireland have unfettered access to the UK and Republic of Ireland markets. Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland will continue to follow EU legislation on animal welfare in transport.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the European Commission proposal to ban the use of recycled rubber infill in artificial pitches, and in particular of its differential impact on (1) Great Britain, and (2) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Based on our commitment to having control of our own laws, the UK has now implemented its own regulatory framework. The EU proposal to ban the use of microplastics in sports pitches will not apply in Great Britain. EU REACH continues to apply in Northern Ireland, where the ban will apply following an 8-year transition period. The scientific and socio-economic evidence to support the EU proposal was considered as part of the EU REACH restriction process. We continue to monitor developments in EU REACH, and consider their impacts for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps will be required under the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland for any changes to the Bread and Flour Regulations 1988; and how long they estimate the requirements of the Protocol will take to fulfil in this regard.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
HM Government and the devolved administrations are working together to bring forward changes to the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 having consulted on proposals between 1st September and 23rd November 2022.
As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), we will be required to notify the WTO providing 60 days for members to comment on the changes. There is also a legal requirement to notify the EU Commission of any new mandatory fortification measures applicable to Northern Ireland. With regards to the proposal to add folic acid to flour this will be required six months before adoption.
Both of these notifications can be made at the same time and progress in parallel.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure businesses in England can continue to supply businesses in Northern Ireland following the passage of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We have discussed our proposed policy changes with all the Devolved Administrations and will continue to keep them informed as the Bill is implemented through commencement regulations.
Under the current NI Protocol arrangements, any goods placed on the market in Northern Ireland, regardless of whether they originate from Great Britain or anywhere else in the world, are required to comply with relevant EU law which remains directly applicable within Northern Ireland under the terms of the Protocol. This means that precision bred organisms will not be able to be imported into Northern Ireland unless approved and labelled as a GMO.
In addition to gaining approval of precision bred status, precision bred crops in England will still need to follow the approval process for new traditionally bred crops. Therefore, we predict it will be several years before domestically produced precision bred crops will be on the market for farmers and consumers. Of the products we expect to come to market during that timeframe, we have not identified any commodity traded between Great Britain and Northern Ireland that would be singled out for significant impact by this restriction.
The EU has recently concluded a public consultation on its future regulation of plants, and their food and feed products, obtained using ‘New Genomic Techniques’. This indicates that the EU may take a similar approach to that of England in creating a new regulatory regime for precision bred plants, where the genetic changes could have arisen through traditional breeding. We will continue to monitor the position of the EU on precision bred products and on UK/EU trade implications for products developed using precision breeding.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the regulatory divergence between Great Britain and Northern Ireland that may occur as a result of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We have discussed our proposed policy changes with all the Devolved Administrations and will continue to keep them informed as the Bill is implemented through commencement regulations.
Under the current NI Protocol arrangements, any goods placed on the market in Northern Ireland, regardless of whether they originate from Great Britain or anywhere else in the world, are required to comply with relevant EU law which remains directly applicable within Northern Ireland under the terms of the Protocol. This means that precision bred organisms will not be able to be imported into Northern Ireland unless approved and labelled as a GMO.
In addition to gaining approval of precision bred status, precision bred crops in England will still need to follow the approval process for new traditionally bred crops. Therefore, we predict it will be several years before domestically produced precision bred crops will be on the market for farmers and consumers. Of the products we expect to come to market during that timeframe, we have not identified any commodity traded between Great Britain and Northern Ireland that would be singled out for significant impact by this restriction.
The EU has recently concluded a public consultation on its future regulation of plants, and their food and feed products, obtained using ‘New Genomic Techniques’. This indicates that the EU may take a similar approach to that of England in creating a new regulatory regime for precision bred plants, where the genetic changes could have arisen through traditional breeding. We will continue to monitor the position of the EU on precision bred products and on UK/EU trade implications for products developed using precision breeding.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total cost to date of the Movement Assistance Scheme since its creation.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The total cost of the Movement Assistance Scheme up to 31 August 2022, the latest date for which data is available, was £17.92 million.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the current rabies requirements for Ukrainian animals arriving into (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Northern Ireland, and (4) Wales; and if there are any differences between those requirements, what are the reasons for those differences.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
We are processing Ukrainian pet import applications as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining our biosecurity standards. The UK has been rabies-free for many years, and we wish to remain so.
The current requirements for a cat, dog or ferret to enter the United Kingdom from Ukraine are as follows:
However, the Government recognises that people fleeing Ukraine with their pets may not have been able to complete this process, or may not have paperwork verifying their pet’s health status. We have therefore put in place new emergency support for those fleeing Ukraine with their pets. Using an emergency licence, people fleeing Ukraine can bring their non-compliant pets to the UK with any quarantine costs met by the Government.
The maximum stay in quarantine for a pet which has received no rabies vaccination is four months. England, Wales and Scotland have introduced a new rabies ELISA blood test that confirms rabies vaccination through detection of rabies antibodies. This will help in instances where refugees have travelled without vaccination paperwork.
Results can be turned around in a minimum of 3 days with some animals then moving to isolation if they pass the test. This will help maintain our strict biosecurity measures and allow people to be reunited more quickly with their pets when possible. This test is not available in Northern Ireland which remains aligned with the EU.
These new arrangements are only in place for people fleeing Ukraine with their pets. It is not available to rescue animals, commercial movements or to pets travelling apart from their owners, all of whom must continue to meet the full health requirements before entering the UK.
England and Scotland have temporarily suspended the commercial import of dogs, cats and ferrets if they originate from or have been dispatched from Ukraine, Belarus, Poland or Romania, until 14 May 2022.
There are no other differences to the rabies import requirements of pets between the Devolved Administrations.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of (1) the availability of kosher food in Northern Ireland, and (2) the restrictions imposed by the provisions of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, when fully implemented, on the movement of kosher food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We recognise the importance of ensuring the Jewish community in Northern Ireland can continue to access kosher meats.
We have been made aware that a supplier decided to stop supplying kosher meat to Northern Ireland. They explained that this was owing to difficulty for them complying with the Official Controls Regulation which applies in Northern Ireland by virtue of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
We have been working with those concerned to identify alternative options. An alternative GB supplier of kosher meats has now been identified.
Goods moving from GB-NI would not need any certification under the proposal set out in the Government’s July 2021 Command Paper, Northern Ireland Protocol – the way forward.