Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2021 to Question 181231, on Poultry: Transport, what plans his Department has to undertake an impact assessment on the transport of day-old chicks for up to 72 hours following the consultation on improvements to animal welfare in transport that closed on 25 February 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Our consultation stage impact assessment estimated the potential impact of proposals to end live animal exports for slaughter and fattening and introduce further improvements to animal welfare during transport; this covered all relevant species.
Our aim was to gather additional evidence through the consultation process to further refine the impact assessment. The public consultation ended on 25 February and we are currently analysing all the responses that we received.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what impact assessment his Department has made of the proposed reforms to animal welfare in transport.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We published a consultation stage impact assessment which estimated the potential impact on businesses of proposals to end live animal exports for slaughter and fattening and introduce further improvements to animal welfare during transport.
Our aim was to gather additional evidence through the consultation process to further refine the impact assessment. The public consultation ended on 25 February and we are currently analysing all the responses we received.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what impact assessment his Department has made of the transport of day-old chicks for up to 72 hours.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
No such assessment has been undertaken.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to provide financial support to East Suffolk District Council to employ additional port health officers at Felixstowe port in the event that the UK and the EU do not reach agreement on their future relationship after the transition period.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Border Operating Model, published on 13 July and updated on 8 October, sets out the new systems and processes required to deliver sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls for goods imported from the EU. These will be introduced in a phased approach from January 2021 to July 2021.
Under this approach, port health authorities (PHAs) will not be required to carry out any new SPS checks on EU goods until 1 April 2021. Defra is working with PHAs across England, including Felixstowe, to ensure recruitment and training of the additional staff required is completed in time.
Defra recently launched a fund to assist PHAs, which will be administered as grants provided under section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 to local authorities in England. The fund closed for applications on 13 September 2020 and we are currently assessing the bids.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on British farmers of any prospective UK-USA trade deal.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The UK seeks an ambitious and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States (US) that strengthens the economic relationship with our largest bilateral trading partner, promoting increased trade in goods and services and greater cross-border investment.
An FTA with the US offers significant opportunities throughout the economy, including in agriculture. In a UK-US FTA, we will seek to reduce or remove tariffs for UK exports, making them more competitive in the US market.
British consumers want high-welfare produce – and if our trading partners want to break into the UK market, they should expect to meet those standards. This Government stood on a clear manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards. The Government will stand firm in trade negotiations to ensure any deals live up to the values of our farmers and consumers.
All food coming into this country will be required to meet existing import requirements. At the end of the transition period the Withdrawal Act will convert all EU standards into domestic law. These include a ban on using artificial growth hormones in both domestic and imported products. Nothing apart from potable water may be used to clean chicken carcasses. Any changes to these standards would have to come before Parliament.
We have a rigorous and extensive programme of analytical work to understand how best to deliver the best possible deal for UK farmers, consumers and producers from future Free Trade Agreements (including that with the US).
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
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 effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the agricultural industry.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is aware that COVID-19 represents a very significant challenge, affecting daily life and every part of the economy. We are working closely alongside the agricultural industry to ensure that we understand and manage the impacts to the industry.
Defra’s Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group is meeting regularly to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the food and farming sectors across the UK, and what actions are needed to support the sectors. This group includes the NFU, other industry stakeholders and the devolved administrations.
The UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group is meeting weekly, to monitor UK agricultural markets and provide forewarning of any atypical market movements. This allows Defra and the devolved administrations to share the latest stakeholder information to assess the effects of COVID-19 on the agricultural industry, as well as prepare the evidence base for a possible range of interventions needed in specific markets, or geographical regions.
Officials are having regular meetings with the different agricultural sectors to understand the specific issues affecting each sector. We have also provided all agricultural industry stakeholders with a central point of contact to send details of any emerging impacts as and when they arise.
The Secretary of State remains in regular contact with representatives of the agricultural industry and will continue to engage with them on the effect of COVID-19. We will continue to monitor the situation and to work closely with the farming sector to respond to emerging issues as they arise.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
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 effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the agricultural supply chain.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is aware that COVID-19 represents a very significant challenge, affecting daily life and every part of the economy. We are working closely with stakeholders in the agricultural supply chain to ensure that we understand and manage the impacts on the industry.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Defra has been having frequent meetings with the Agri-Supply Coalition stakeholder group, which is meeting weekly. This group includes stakeholders from across the agricultural supporting industries and has been discussing the effect of COVID-19 on the agricultural supply chain. We have also provided these stakeholders with a central point of contact to send details of any emerging impacts as and when they arise.
Officials are having regular meetings across the different agricultural sectors to understand the specific issues affecting each sector. We remain in regular contact with representatives of the agricultural supply chain and will continue to engage with them on the effect of COVID-19. We will continue to monitor the situation and to work closely with the agricultural supply chain to respond to emerging issues as they arise.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's plans are on animal welfare standards in future trade deals.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is proud of the high animal welfare standards that underpin our high-quality Great British produce. We have made a clear manifesto commitment that in all of our trade negotiations we will not compromise on these standards. The Government will stand firm in trade negotiations to ensure any future trade deals live up to the values of farmers and consumers across the UK.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to reduce the availability of single use plastics; and will she make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Published last year, the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy, sets out our plans to reduce, reuse and recycle more plastic than we do now. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan, but for the most problematic plastics we are going faster - that is why we commit to work towards all plastic packaging placed on the UK market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
We have made good progress. Our plastic bag charge has led to a 90% reduction in the use of plastic carrier bags in the main retailers, and we recently consulted on plans to extend the charge to all retailers and on increasing the minimum charge to at least 10p. We want to further incentivise people to choose sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. We are therefore seeking a power in the Environment Bill to be able to place a charge on any single-use plastic item.
In addition, the Government will introduce a ban, with exemptions, on the supply of single use plastic drinking straws, plastic drink stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds to the end user in England in April 2020. As set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy, we will take a strategic approach to the use of bans as part of a broader approach to reduce the use of single-use plastics.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Conservative - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to ensure local authorities reduce food waste within their communities.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In December last year, the Government launched its Resources and Waste Strategy which sets out a new approach to address food waste from farm to fork.
The Strategy calls on local authorities to tackle food waste within their communities by actively supporting the development and use of the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s national messaging to promote food waste prevention among citizens, and by playing an active part in piloting interventions and in scaling up those pilots which prove most successful.
Last autumn, the Secretary of State announced a new pilot scheme to reduce food waste, supported by a £15 million fund. The first £5 million round of funding is currently being allocated to food redistribution organisations. The Government has also appointed Ben Elliot as the food waste champion who will work with business leaders to ensure that the issue of food waste and surplus remains at the top of their agendas, with household food waste as a priority.