Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost of the introduction of extended producer responsibility fees to businesses.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department’s impact assessment published online here has considered the impacts on businesses from the introduction of extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR).
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what body will administer the non-household packaging elements of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme; and when he plans to publish details of that body.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Obligations on non-household packaging elements of the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility scheme will continue to be enforced by the Environment Agency in England and the equivalent regulators in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as these obligations are in the current producer responsibility scheme.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what level extended producer responsibility fees will be set at.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In August 2024, we released the first set of illustrative packaging extended producer responsibility base fees covering the following eight packaging materials: aluminium, fibre-based composite materials, glass, paper or board, plastic, steel, wood and other materials.
In September 2024, we released a second set of illustrative base fees using an updated methodology, based principally on 'Report Packaging Data’ (RPD) producer reported tonnages from 2023 alongside Defra-modelled Local Authority costs. This is the same underlying approach and datasets that the Scheme Administrator intends to use for final fees from 2025, with all tonnages based on RPD data.
Final fees can only be calculated after 1 April 2025, the deadline for large organisations to report their packaging data for the period July to December 2024.
These fees have been published and can be found here: Extended producer responsibility for packaging: illustrative base fees - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the consistency of phytosanitary certificate checks at the UK Border.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Checks are handled by trained staff working to standard operating procedures, ensuring inspections are undertaken safely and efficiently.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency’s plant health import inspection process is accredited to the ISO 17020 Inspection Standard which is subject to external audits from the UK Accreditation Service.
Inspectors are rigorously trained and are equipped to ensure sanitary and phytosanitary goods are handled safely and with care.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to increase levels of meat and poultry exports.
Answered by Mark Spencer
To support delivery of the Government’s Export Strategy the Prime Minister recently announced a food and drink export package to boost export capability and deliver on growing demand for our high-quality UK produce across the world. This included a further expansion of our global agrifood and drink counsellor network who negotiate removal of trade barriers in growing global markets. Within the last year we have successfully secured access for lamb to the USA and apples to India. The export package also included a £2m boost to promotional activity such as trade shows and missions that help drive demand for UK products alongside the GREAT food and drink campaign.
To further support food producers export, we have held a range of National and Regional food summits with dedicated SME workshops to highlight export opportunities and build capability.
Supporting this increased investment in exports we have an ambitious programme of negotiations for free trade agreements which is delivering results. On 31 May the UK’s first new free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand came into force, opening markets for UK producers across all products. On 31 March, the Government substantially concluded negotiations on the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade agreement (FTA) including 11 members: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. This trade deal will see new export opportunities for food producers including exporters of meat and poultry.
We work closely with a wide range of industry representative partners to identify and prioritise barrier removal, and to seize opportunities to streamline the export process for animals and animal products. Alongside opening new market opportunities, we are also increasing resilience and mitigating risks to existing trade. This is particularly the case with poultry where we are working with trade partners to agree regionalisation agreements to allow trade from unaffected regions to continue in the context of Avian Influenza outbreaks.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of resources in the (a) Animal Health and Plant Agency to respond to multiple exotic disease outbreaks and (b) Food Standards Agency to respond to safety risks associated with imported food.
Answered by Mark Spencer
a) The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) constantly review resource allocation and the Secretary of State is briefed on the Agency’s preparedness for multiple disease outbreaks. Recognising the impact of persistent incursions of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 into the UK, additional funding has been made available this year to APHA to ensure it has the resources needed to deliver against the increased demands HPAI has placed on it.
(b) While the Food Standards Agency is responsible for imported food safety policy, responsibility for the delivery of border controls for imported food rests with Plant Health Agencies, which are the relevant competent authorities. As such they are responsible for ensuring adequate resources are in place to carry out this function at a local level.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she (a) has had and (b) plans to have with international trading partners on the use of avian influenza vaccinations.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The vaccination of poultry and captive birds against avian influenza, excluding those in licensed zoos in England, is not currently permitted.
While avian influenza vaccination is unlikely to be a viable option for the 2023/24 high risk season, Defra has established a cross Government and industry task force to explore potential for use of vaccination as a preventive measure for avian influenza. Further information can be found at Bird flu (avian influenza) vaccination task force - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The Secretary of State and her officials, including the UK Chief Veterinary Officer, regularly engage with trading partners and international fora like the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) on a range of animal health issues, including vaccination policies.
Any future decisions on avian influenza control measures, including the use of vaccination, will be based upon the latest scientific, ornithological, and veterinary advice. Should UK avian influenza vaccination policy change in future, Defra will work to secure the buy-in of trading partners to ensure UK trade in poultry is not negatively affected.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the readiness of (a) food border checks and (b) veterinary provisions.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
In August 2023, the Government published the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) which sets a new regime of sanitary and phytosanitary controls regime for all imports to GB. Defra continues to engage regularly with other Government departments, including Cabinet Office to prepare for implementation of the BTOM. Under the BTOM inspections for food safety, biosecurity and animal health will take place at Border Control Posts (BCPs) from April. BCP operators must demonstrate that there are sufficient on-site staff, including official veterinarians, to carry out the required import checks on consignments, and BCPs should therefore have sufficient staff to undertake their function. There will be continual dialogue between Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Port Health Authorities to ensure that the correct levels of staffing are in place to deliver BTOM.
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cases of Brucella Canis were reported between April 2021 and January 2022; and what data her Department holds on reported cases of Brucella Canis between January 2011 and April 2021.
Answered by Mark Spencer
We consider a case to be a single epidemiological event. Each event may involve 1 or more dogs.
For example, many cases are just 1 dog (imported rescue dog) while another case may involve a breeder of a litter of dogs where more than 1 dog is infected.
So between 1st April 2021 – 31st January 2022: Cases = 35 (37 positive dogs).
Prior to April 2020 we have data identifying 3 cases: 2 in 2017 and 1 in 2018 (all single dogs imported from eastern Europe).
1st April 2020 – 31st March 2021: Cases = 14 (53 positive dogs)
Total January 2011 – April 2021 is the sum of these 17 cases (56 positive dogs).
Asked by: Alec Shelbrooke (Conservative - Wetherby and Easingwold)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help protect the domestic poultry industry from unfair competition from other countries which have lower energy costs or lower production standards.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The Government is proud of the high food safety and animal welfare standards that underpin our high-quality Great British produce. We put British farming at the heart of our trade policy and have no intention of undercutting our own reputation for quality by lowering our standards in pursuit of a trade deal.
In all trade agreements we negotiate, we will stand up for British farming and aim to secure new opportunities for the industry. We will always look to ensure that UK Free Trade Agreements are fair and reciprocal, and that any ‘opening up’ does not cause an unwanted downturn for domestic producers.
We are also working hard to support a thriving and profitable domestic industry. In December 2022 I hosted a roundtable for UK egg producers to discuss the challenges that the industry has been facing due to the increase in input costs. We have relaxed marketing rules on the sale of defrosted seasonal poultry products and allowed concessions to the sale of free-range eggs impacted by Avian Influenza housing restrictions. In addition, since November 2022, the poultry industry has been able to access the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS). In January 2023 the Government announced the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) that will replace EBRS when it comes to an end on 31st March 2023. This new scheme will run until 31st March 2024. Following a review of the EBRS, the Government will target a higher level of support under the EBDS at the most energy and trade intensive sectors – which are primarily manufacturing businesses – in addition to the broader EBDS support. Poultry meat processing falls within the remit of the Government’s Energy Intensive Industries exemption scheme and will therefore also qualify for the enhanced level of support.
We continue to keep the sector under close review, including through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments.