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Written Question
UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement
Monday 1st August 2022

Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of their progress in meeting the commitment in the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement to "ensure that … sanitary and phytosanitary measures do not create unnecessary barriers to trade".

Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) includes a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter which allows the UK and the EU to take a risk-based approach to our respective SPS border controls and provides a basis for cooperation on avoiding unnecessary barriers to trade. Officials meet their counterparts on a regular basis to discuss the SPS provisions of the TCA.

Where issues are raised, we are happy to pursue appropriate resolution. For example, through the provisions of the SPS Chapter, the UK is working with the EU to take forward electronic certification, which will facilitate trade through reducing delays and reducing business administration.

Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 16 Jun 2022
Pig Farming

"My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, for securing this debate, and draw attention to my interests in the register.

The pig industry is not only a substantial economic part of our food industry, worth over £14 billion pounds per year, exporting over 400,000 tonnes …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 16 Jun 2022
Pig Farming

"Can the Minister reassure us that the Government will reinstate sanitary checks on animal products from the EU?..."
Lord Trees - View Speech

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Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 24 May 2022
Zoonoses Research Centre

"To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Prime Minister’s address to the United Nations General Assembly on 26 September 2020 in which he called for the creation of “a global network of zoonotic research hubs”, what progress they have made towards establishing a zoonoses research centre in the United …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 24 May 2022
Zoonoses Research Centre

"I thank the noble Lord for his Answer and acknowledge what is being done, but is it enough? A critical issue here is the animal-human interface. Past and present emerging human infections which have spilled over from animals to humans include HIV, SARS, MERS, Ebola, various influenzas, Covid-19 and monkeypox. …..."
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Speech in Grand Committee - Tue 17 May 2022
Import of Animals and Animal Products and Approved Countries (Amendment) Regulations 2022

"I very much thank the Minister for his explanation of this SI and thank his team for the helpful Explanatory Memorandum, which, I must admit, I particularly appreciated—I have to say that the instrument itself is hardly riveting bedside reading. I also noted the report of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 07 Apr 2022
Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill [HL]

"My Lords, I first declare my interest as in the register. I am co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare. I thank the Minister for useful discussions during the passage of this Bill, and I hope that he is a very happy grandfather this afternoon.

I accept these …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Wed 23 Mar 2022
Veterinary Personnel

"My Lords, the reasons for the current shortage of vets are complex, but involve the three Rs—recruitment, retention and, particularly, encouraging returners back to work after career breaks. With reference to recruitment to veterinary schools, nearly one-quarter of veterinary graduates produced by UK vet schools are actually overseas students, mainly …..."
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Written Question
Animals: Electric Shock Equipment
Thursday 3rd February 2022

Asked by: Lord Trees (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the welfare implications of ther baiting of electrified fences used to keep animals in or out of defined areas.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

In England, wildlife is protected by law through legislation such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.

Section 11 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits certain methods of killing or taking wild animals. Under subsection 2(c), a person will be guilty of an offence if they set in position any electrical device for killing or stunning, calculated to cause bodily injury to any wild animal included in Schedule 6 of that Act, such as badgers and hedgehogs. It is also an offence under regulation 45 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 to use electrical and electronic devices capable of killing or stunning, for the purpose of capturing or killing a European protected species, or for any of the protected species listed on Schedule 4 of those Regulations.

The Government has not made a specific assessment of the welfare implications of the baiting of electrified fences.

Speech in Grand Committee - Tue 25 Jan 2022
Microchipping of Dogs (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

"My Lords, I thank the Minister for his excellent introduction and his articulation of the very positive effects of compulsory dog microchipping, which I congratulate the Government for introducing in 2015. Those regulations are very well supported by the animal welfare charities, the veterinary profession and me, but as the …..."
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