Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 2 October 2019 to Question 290370 on Fisheries: Navy, how many additional frontline warranted officers have been recruited, (b) by how much has aerial surveillance been increased, (c) how many extra sea patrol vessels are now available and (d) what the baseline figure was in each case.
Answered by George Eustice
In England, the Marine Management Organisation has increased the number of frontline warranted officers by 50% (35 people) for 2019/2020. A framework is in place to increase aerial surveillance by a maximum of two surveillance aircrafts as risk and intelligence demands. Two additional commercial vessels have been chartered to enable an increase in routine sea-based inspections to supplement provision from the Royal Navy Fisheries Protection Squadron. A framework of agreements has been put in place with other Government departments and relevant agencies which enables provision for up to 22 further vessels to be activated, should the operational situation demand it.
As fisheries management is a devolved matter, it is for the devolved administrations to decide on appropriate levels of fisheries control and enforcement provision in their waters. However, we continue to work closely with the devolved administrations to ensure a coordinated approach to fisheries control and enforcement across UK waters.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 4 October 2019 to Question 290388, what replies have been received from those third countries on UK plans for the continued use of existing Export Health Certificates once the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Since the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) wrote to third countries on 21 December 2018, we have continued to work with third countries to ensure that the UK’s Export Health Certificates (EHCs) remain when the UK leaves the EU.
93 countries have responded and no notifications have been received from third countries stating the UK’s EHCs will be not be accepted.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 118358 on Agricultural Products: UK Trade With EU, what progress her Department has made on developing the UK’s system for the management of agri-food imports and exports with EU countries.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government is committed to ensuring UK businesses can continue to trade with our EU partners as easily as possible after Brexit, while continuing to protect the UK’s high level of biosecurity.
Defra has built and tested a new import notification system and is in the final testing phase of a new online system for processing Export Health Certificates. Both of these could be used after the implementation period, if required, to ensure trade continues.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 19 December 2017 to Question 118358 on Agricultural Products: UK Trade With EU, what progress her Department has made on developing the UK’s system for the management of agri-food imports and exports with EU countries.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Dissolution.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 19 December 2017 to Question 118358, what progress her Department has made on developing the UK’s system for the management of agri-food imports and exports with EU countries.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 13 December 2017 to Question 118331, what progress has been made on getting the best possible deal that allows the UK to continue to have tariff-free and frictionless access for goods and services into the European market.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to support the import of (a) fertilisers and (b) other crop treatments in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by George Eustice
In preparations for no deal, the Government has taken steps to secure additional freight capacity, guaranteeing the supply of critical goods.
In the event of no deal and with regard to crop treatments, the same pesticide products will continue to be authorised for use in the UK immediately after withdrawal. After withdrawal, businesses who trade with the EU will broadly be subject to customs controls in the same way as businesses who are trading with the rest of the world. HMRC has announced that a number of temporary easements are in place to help businesses make this transition, including measures to simplify tariffs and customs declarations.
Existing EU regulations for marketing fertilisers will be converted into UK law in the event of a no deal departure. Products sold as EC fertilisers can be sold in the UK with the same packaging for two years as long as they continue to comply with the EU regulations. This system has been developed to ensure continuity of supply of fertiliser imports from the EU to the UK farming industry. The information has been published in a guidance document available on gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manufacturing-and-marketing-fertilisers-if-there-is-no-brexit-deal
The UK is a net importer of fertilisers and is consequently a valuable market for exports from other countries. We are expecting the supply of fertilisers to remain consistent, and to continue to use existing trade routes which do not include the Port of Dover.
We will continue to look at all likely EU withdrawal scenarios with a view to limiting consequential impacts on the supply chain and trade.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to support seed potato exporters in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
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 potential effect on UK food exports of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on 31 October 2019.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of vets that will be required at ports and airports to issue export health certificates in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many vets are currently available.
Answered by George Eustice
Exporters are required to have certified Export Health Certificates before goods leave the approved premises, therefore we do not anticipate any need for additional certifying officers at UK borders.
To date, over 1000 vets are registered as official veterinarians that can certify Export Health Certificates – an increase of around 60% since February 2019. We have put in place a number of measures to increase certifier capacity, including introducing a new certification support officer role to assist certifiers in collating the evidence needed, as well as providing free training for vets.