Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what arrangements the Department has put in place to provide real-time operational guidance to veterinary practices and Suitably Qualified Persons in Northern Ireland if product availability changes faster or more widely than anticipated after 31 December 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department will continue to engage extensively with stakeholders across the sector beyond 31 December, including those representing vets and SQPs. Should unanticipated disruptions emerge, the Government will work closely with industry, as we are doing now, to address the issues and communicate promptly to stakeholders. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) currently already seek feedback on supply issues with the 'report a supply problem' form, and this has been promoted to all stakeholders as one of their routes to notify us of any issues. The Government remains confident that the two schemes being introduced can address any supply gaps if they emerge. The Veterinary Medicine Health Situation list will be updated as necessary.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the readiness of veterinary practices and farm businesses in Northern Ireland for the end of the grace period on veterinary medicines.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government continues to engage extensively with industry stakeholders across the supply chain to support them with continued availability of veterinary medicines beyond the grace period. This includes engagement with veterinary and farmer associations and businesses to discuss their preparedness and any concerns they might have. The Government has also issued extensive guidance and intends to publish several webinars shortly. This guidance provides information to help veterinary practices and farm businesses prepare.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will assess the effect of the Veterinary Medicines Internal Market Scheme and the Veterinary Medicines Health Situations Scheme on the agri-food supply chain in Northern Ireland during the first year of implementation.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are confident in the two schemes being introduced by the Government and will continue to closely monitor the situation over the upcoming year and beyond. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) will be conducting an assessment of the effectiveness/use of the two schemes in 6-12 months after first implementation. Our current assessment is that there will be minimal disruptions to veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland and the agri-food supply chain will continue as it is now.
The use of these schemes will not in any way impair the ability of businesses in Northern Ireland to sell to businesses and consumers in the EU, including live animals or products of animal origin. They will be able to sell in the EU as they do now, and they do not need to make any changes. The two schemes will take effect from 1 January, and we will monitor their effectiveness.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact on the competitiveness of Northern Ireland farm businesses in the event access to routine veterinary medicines diverges from Great Britain after 31 December 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In accordance with the Windsor Framework, EU legislation in relation to veterinary medicines applies in Northern Ireland in order to maintain Northern Ireland’s dual market access.
After extensive stakeholder engagement, our current estimate is that 10-15% of products are expected to be discontinued. Many of these authorisations are dormant or sold in very low volumes, or multiple alternatives remain available. We therefore do not anticipate significant impacts on access to routine veterinary medicines as a result of these discontinuations. Furthermore, we have seen from several pharmaceutical companies that they have made commitments not to increase prices as a direct result of the changes to supply that they are making or have already made.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether rare livestock breeders based in Northern Ireland are eligible to (a) contribute to and (b) benefit from UK-wide genetic preservation schemes for (i) heritage and (ii) exotic breeds.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The UK Genetics for Livestock and Equines Committee (UKGLE) provides independent advice to Defra and the Devolved Governments on native breed issues, particularly their conservation and sustainable use.
Beneficial activities to protect and conserve UK livestock genetic resources include encouraging sustainable breeding programmes through Zootechnical legislation, monitoring populations of pedigree livestock including native breeds which are published in an annual UK National Breed inventory, maintaining at risk lists (and their equivalents), and protecting eligible native breeds at risk from culling during notifiable disease outbreaks.
Regarding zootechnical regulation, NI breed societies would be regulated by DAERA (as the competent authority) under the UK-wide assimilated 2016/1012. Breeding programmes in Northern Ireland, including those aimed at the preservation of breeds, are approved by DAERA although these programmes may link with breeding programmes approved by competent authorities for other parts of the UK.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help establish a UK-wide genetic resource bank for the cryopreservation of (a) embryos and (b) semen for rare livestock breeds.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra and the devolved administrations are engaging with the UK Genetics for Livestock and Equines Committee (UKGLE) who provide independent advice on livestock genetics including breeding conservation.
Defra has recently commissioned a livestock biobank scoping study. This study will gather evidence to explore ways to conserve livestock genetics including from
embryos and semen of native breeds.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help sheep farmers from Northern Ireland to participate in UK-funded livestock (a) genomics and (b) breeding research programmes.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Farming Innovation Programme is Defra’s flagship programme for supporting research and innovation to help English farmers and growers increase productivity, sustainability and resilience. To harness expertise across our shared borders, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish companies and research organisations, and UK-wide organisations can collaborate in this programme. This includes innovation in sheep breeding to reduce methane emissions.
Defra has also funded scientific research exploring ways to reduce environmental impacts of livestock production, including research which found positive results relating to breeding sheep for reduced emissions and improved productivity (2023, 2024). Defra is also currently researching the best ways to incorporate environmental impact and productivity traits into sheep breeding across the UK.
Defra and the devolved administrations also work with the UK Genetics for Livestock and Equines Committee (UKGLE) who provide independent advice on livestock genetics including breeding.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 he has made of the potential impact of global fertiliser supply chain disruptions on farmers in Northern Ireland; and what steps he is taking to mitigate the impact.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We monitor both domestic and international fertiliser markets and remain in regular contact with a wide range of industry stakeholders.
Government regularly runs a duty suspensions process allowing businesses to apply for duty suspensions (on imported raw inputs to production) to help them to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Enabling raw input prices to be more competitive can have a downward pressure on domestic prices.
Good nutrient management practices on farm also help make most efficient use of all sources of nutrients including bought in fertilisers. Government continues to monitor the functioning of the fertiliser supply chain and works closely with the sector in case of any disruptions.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) farmers and (b) landowners in Northern Ireland have equitable access to UK-wide (i) environmental and (ii) biodiversity funding streams.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The UK Government works closely with ministers and officials in Northern Ireland to engage on environmental topics, including biodiversity. For example, they recently jointly published the UK’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, are collaborating closely on its implementation and producing a 7th National Report on progress. However, there is no funding associated with these activities.
There are relevant Sector Capacity grants which are open to lead applicants based anywhere in the UK (including Northern Ireland). The three grants include:
Information sharing regularly takes place at official level and through the Tree Planting Taskforce to help address UK wide challenges and share lessons learned on grant mechanisms.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the risk of exhibition poultry returning from short-term events in Great Britain to Northern Ireland; and whether he plans to introduce (a) veterinary checks and (b) reduced testing protocols.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Poultry can move from Northern Ireland to England under the general licence published on GOV.UK. Under the Windsor Framework, poultry moving from England to Northern Ireland are subject to the import rules in Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Bird gatherings, including shows and exhibitions, are not permitted within a disease control zone. Outside of these areas, bird gatherings are only permitted if licensed. Bird gatherings general licences have been made available by Defra and the devolved governments permitting certain bird gatherings, provided that the gathering has been notified to the Animal and Plant Health Agency in Great Britain and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland at least 7 days before the event and it meets all the requirements of the relevant general licence. Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the devolved governments to assess their disease risks and respond accordingly. Whist poultry (Galliforme or Anseriforme birds) gatherings are permitted in Northern Ireland, due to the heightened risk of avian influenza in Great Britain poultry gatherings remain prohibited in England, Wales and Scotland.