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 steps she will take to ensure adequate supplies of (a) animal feed, (b) fertilisers and (c) other crop treatments which cannot be stockpiled in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by George Eustice
We are in regular dialogue with the farming unions, processors and allied industries about the availability of animal feed and other supplies in the event of a no deal.
In 2017, the UK produced 13.9 million tonnes of animal feed. Included in this amount was 3.9 million tonnes of ingredients imported from third countries and 2.2 million tonnes from the EU. This would suggest that the sector is less dependent on imports from the EU. However, we will continue to monitor the markets in order to determine the impact of our leaving the EU on prices and supply.
In preparations for no deal, the Government has taken steps to secure additional freight capacity, guaranteeing the supply of critical goods.
Existing EU regulations for marketing fertilisers will be converted into UK law in the event of a no deal withdrawal. 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 therefore a valuable market for exports from other countries. We are expecting the supply of fertilisers to remain consistent and to continue to use trading 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.
In the event of no deal, the same pesticide products will continue to be authorised for use in the UK immediately after departure.
After withdrawal, businesses trading 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.
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 the programme of analytical work into understanding how withdrawal from the EU will affect the UK; and if she will publish the interim findings of that work.
Answered by George Eustice
This analysis only applies to England as agricultural policy is devolved.
As part of our preparations to leave the EU, we have carried out a rigorous programme of analytical work that has assessed the impact of various EU exit scenarios on the UK farming sector.
Part of that programme has included modelling work co-funded by the four UK agricultural departments. In August 2017, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI-UK) published this analysis in the report “Impacts of Alternative Post-Brexit Trade Agreements on UK Agriculture: Sector Analyses Using the FAPRI-UK Model”. It considers the impact of different trading scenarios on many farming commodity sectors. The full report is available on the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute website here:
In addition, the evidence and analysis paper which accompanied the publication of the Agriculture Bill (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-for-food-farming-and-the-environment-policy-statement-2018) provides analysis of the various ways farmers are likely to be affected by the movement from the area based payments of the Common Agricultural Policy to being rewarded for the public goods they produce under Environmental Land Management.
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 NAO report entitled Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Progress in Implementing EU Exit, published on 12 September 2019, what progress her Department has made on creating 1,400 Export Health Certificate versions and agreeing them with non-EU countries.
Answered by George Eustice
On 21 December 2018, the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) wrote to third countries outlining our plans for the continued use of existing Export Health Certificates (EHCs) once the UK leaves the EU.
The CVO will be writing to third countries again in the near future to reaffirm this position.
All Export Health Certificates for exporting to third countries are already available on Gov.uk.
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 11 July 2017 to Question 2722, what progress she has made on assessing the required strength of the fisheries protection fleet after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
We will continue to monitor, control and enforce fishing regulations in our own waters as an independent costal state after we leave the EU on 31 October. We currently take robust intelligence-led enforcement action against illegal fishing and this will continue when we leave the EU.
We have assessed the risk of increased illegal fishing when the UK leaves the EU and have strengthened our resources accordingly. This includes an increase to the number of frontline warranted officers, increased aerial surveillance and further vessels to enhance patrolling capacity at sea.
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, whether she plans to extend the lamb purchase scheme announced by the Prime Minister on 30 July 2019 to (a) other meats, (b) poultry and (c) fish.
Answered by George Eustice
We have made it clear that we will support vulnerable sectors through Government intervention in the event of a ‘no deal’, should this be necessary. We will be monitoring the sectors which may be exposed to short-term difficulties as a result of EU Exit closely to identify early signs of market disturbance allowing us to react swiftly.
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 4 December 2018 to Question 197445, what increase there has been in the number of (a) personnel and (b) surveillance assets relating to fisheries protection since 3 December 2018; and what increases are planned ahead of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Control and enforcement is a devolved matter. As such, it will continue to be for each Devolved Administration to decide how best to control its waters, and what new arrangements may be needed. We continue to work closely with the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure a coordinated approach to fisheries control and enforcement across UK waters.
In England, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has assessed the levels of enforcement capacity required and the options for best delivering this. A significant uplift in control and enforcement capability is being put in place to ensure that we will be able to protect our waters after leaving the EU.
This includes an increased number of warranted officers available for fisheries enforcement purposes by 50% – taking the total to more than 80, with additional officers undergoing enforcement training. It also includes increased aerial surveillance capabilities and measures put in place to deliver a sevenfold increase patrolling capacity at sea from 18/19 to 19/20.
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 3 December 2018 to Question 195110 on data protection, what the subject matter was of each of those documents.
Answered by George Eustice
The subject matters of the Official-Sensitive papers reported lost were:
The subject matters of the Official papers reported lost were:
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 progress he has made on developing a UK fisheries policy after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government set out its vision for future domestic fisheries policy in the White Paper “Sustainable Fisheries for Future Generations” published in July 2018 and subsequently in the Fisheries Bill.
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 her policy is on the control of genetically modified organisms after the UK leaves the EU; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government’s policy is to apply thorough scientific standards on authorising genetically modified (GM) products, with their release subject to a robust assessment of the potential impact on human health and the environment. In the event of the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement, EU legislation would initially be converted into Retained EU law and applied domestically. Decisions on the release of GMOs in the UK will remain devolved.
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 exporters of (a) wheat and (b) barley in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government has established the UK Agricultural Marketing Monitoring Group with the devolved administrations to monitor developments in the market across our agriculture sectors. This group will operate in the event the EU leaves without a deal. It will provide forewarning of any atypical market movements and will help us to ensure that we are aware of the implications for UK stakeholders. We continue to consider options for easing the flow of trade in cereals in the event of no deal.