Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether sheep meat produced on farms that carry out the castration of lambs up to the age of six months without pain relief falls under the definition of imports of lower welfare as set out in the Government’s call for evidence on Labelling for animal welfare, published on 13 September 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
UK legislation sets out high standards for animal welfare. This includes the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, the 2007 Welfare of Farmed Animal Regulations, the 2007 Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) Regulations, and the 2015 Welfare at the Time of Killing regulations, as well as the retained EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. Animal welfare is a fully devolved matter and comparable legislation exists in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
The Government launched a call for evidence on 13 September to assess the impacts of different types of labelling reforms for animal welfare. For the purpose of this call for evidence, 'imports of lower welfare' is defined as 'the subset of imports that do not meet baseline UK welfare regulations', including, but not limited to, the regulations mentioned above.
Any future label requirements would need to be underpinned by a set of agreed welfare standards, referring to how these meet, exceed, or fall below baseline UK welfare regulations and international standards. The development of such welfare standards would be informed by the responses to this call for evidence and further stakeholder engagement.
The responses to this call for evidence will be used to inform any future policy proposals on animal welfare labelling. This will feed into the Government’s wider work on food labelling to ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy and to facilitate the trade of quality British food at home and abroad.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether beef produced on farms that carry out the surgical removal of ovaries from cows without pain relief falls under the definition of imports of lower welfare as set out in the Government’s call for evidence on Labelling for animal welfare, published on 13 September 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
UK legislation sets out high standards for animal welfare. This includes the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, the 2007 Welfare of Farmed Animal Regulations, the 2007 Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) Regulations, and the 2015 Welfare at the Time of Killing regulations, as well as the retained EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. Animal welfare is a fully devolved matter and comparable legislation exists in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
The Government launched a call for evidence on 13 September to assess the impacts of different types of labelling reforms for animal welfare. For the purpose of this call for evidence, 'imports of lower welfare' is defined as 'the subset of imports that do not meet baseline UK welfare regulations', including, but not limited to, the regulations mentioned above.
Any future label requirements would need to be underpinned by a set of agreed welfare standards, referring to how these meet, exceed, or fall below baseline UK welfare regulations and international standards. The development of such welfare standards would be informed by the responses to this call for evidence and further stakeholder engagement.
The responses to this call for evidence will be used to inform any future policy proposals on animal welfare labelling. This will feed into the Government’s wider work on food labelling to ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy and to facilitate the trade of quality British food at home and abroad.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether beef produced on farms that carry out the dehorning of cattle without pain relief falls under the definition of imports of lower welfare as set out in the Government’s call for evidence on Labelling for animal welfare, published on 13 September 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
UK legislation sets out high standards for animal welfare. This includes the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, the 2007 Welfare of Farmed Animal Regulations, the 2007 Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) Regulations, and the 2015 Welfare at the Time of Killing regulations, as well as the retained EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. Animal welfare is a fully devolved matter and comparable legislation exists in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
The Government launched a call for evidence on 13 September to assess the impacts of different types of labelling reforms for animal welfare. For the purpose of this call for evidence, 'imports of lower welfare' is defined as 'the subset of imports that do not meet baseline UK welfare regulations', including, but not limited to, the regulations mentioned above.
Any future label requirements would need to be underpinned by a set of agreed welfare standards, referring to how these meet, exceed, or fall below baseline UK welfare regulations and international standards. The development of such welfare standards would be informed by the responses to this call for evidence and further stakeholder engagement.
The responses to this call for evidence will be used to inform any future policy proposals on animal welfare labelling. This will feed into the Government’s wider work on food labelling to ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy and to facilitate the trade of quality British food at home and abroad.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether meat produced from livestock transported over land for up to 48 hours without rest falls under the definition of imports of lower welfare as set out in the Government’s call for evidence on Labelling for animal welfare, published on 13 September 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
UK legislation sets out high standards for animal welfare. This includes the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, the 2007 Welfare of Farmed Animal Regulations, the 2007 Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) Regulations, and the 2015 Welfare at the Time of Killing regulations, as well as the retained EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. Animal welfare is a fully devolved matter and comparable legislation exists in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
The Government launched a call for evidence on 13 September to assess the impacts of different types of labelling reforms for animal welfare. For the purpose of this call for evidence, 'imports of lower welfare' is defined as 'the subset of imports that do not meet baseline UK welfare regulations', including, but not limited to, the regulations mentioned above.
Any future label requirements would need to be underpinned by a set of agreed welfare standards, referring to how these meet, exceed, or fall below baseline UK welfare regulations and international standards. The development of such welfare standards would be informed by the responses to this call for evidence and further stakeholder engagement.
The responses to this call for evidence will be used to inform any future policy proposals on animal welfare labelling. This will feed into the Government’s wider work on food labelling to ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy and to facilitate the trade of quality British food at home and abroad.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether sheep meat produced on farms that carry out the mulesing of lambs falls under the definition of imports of lower welfare as set out in the Government’s call for evidence on Labelling for animal welfare, published on 13 September 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
UK legislation sets out high standards for animal welfare. This includes the 2006 Animal Welfare Act, the 2007 Welfare of Farmed Animal Regulations, the 2007 Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) Regulations, and the 2015 Welfare at the Time of Killing regulations, as well as the retained EU Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. Animal welfare is a fully devolved matter and comparable legislation exists in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
The Government launched a call for evidence on 13 September to assess the impacts of different types of labelling reforms for animal welfare. For the purpose of this call for evidence, 'imports of lower welfare' is defined as 'the subset of imports that do not meet baseline UK welfare regulations', including, but not limited to, the regulations mentioned above.
Any future label requirements would need to be underpinned by a set of agreed welfare standards, referring to how these meet, exceed, or fall below baseline UK welfare regulations and international standards. The development of such welfare standards would be informed by the responses to this call for evidence and further stakeholder engagement.
The responses to this call for evidence will be used to inform any future policy proposals on animal welfare labelling. This will feed into the Government’s wider work on food labelling to ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy and to facilitate the trade of quality British food at home and abroad.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what advice the Government has provided to UK importers and exporters of (a) raw mink fur skins and (b) related items under customs commodity code 430110 on (i) the potential risks to human and animal health posed by that trade and (ii) steps that can be taken to mitigate those risks since March 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) has recently concluded that there is insufficient evidence to consider raw mink fur skins as safe for international trade because of the SARS-CoV-2 risk. Further evidence is needed to improve our understanding of any other risks to human or animal health potentially posed by international trade in contaminated pelts or fur. The UK has been closely involved in these discussions.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has established that no specific authorisations have been issued for the import of untreated furs from third countries into the UK in the last two years. This view is supported by analysis of data from the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), which is used to notify enforcement authorities about imports of live animals, animal products and high-risk food and feed not of animal origin into Great Britain. No Export Health Certificates have been issued by the domestic authorities for raw mink skins and APHA data also show no evidence of any UK export of this commodity.
The UK's approach to biosecurity is internationally recognised for delivering the highest standards of protection from pests, diseases, and invasive non-native species. This begins with the vital process of horizon scanning to detect potential risks, it includes robust measures to prevent and detect incursions as well as a capacity to respond effectively to contain or eradicate outbreaks that may occur. This is underpinned by world-class scientific capabilities and collaboration internationally and across Government through key links with industry, stakeholder organisations and the wider public.
Safeguard measures under the OIE code may be put in place to ban the import of goods because of a new or emerging disease threat. Although such measures have not been introduced domestically to date, we continue to monitor developments and to consider our response should we receive any applications to import raw mink fur.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research the Government has (a) commissioned and (b) received to better understand the potential risks to human and animal health posed by international trade in pelts of fur contaminated with covid-19 since March 2021.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) has recently concluded that there is insufficient evidence to consider raw mink fur skins as safe for international trade because of the SARS-CoV-2 risk. Further evidence is needed to improve our understanding of any other risks to human or animal health potentially posed by international trade in contaminated pelts or fur. The UK has been closely involved in these discussions.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has established that no specific authorisations have been issued for the import of untreated furs from third countries into the UK in the last two years. This view is supported by analysis of data from the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), which is used to notify enforcement authorities about imports of live animals, animal products and high-risk food and feed not of animal origin into Great Britain. No Export Health Certificates have been issued by the domestic authorities for raw mink skins and APHA data also show no evidence of any UK export of this commodity.
The UK's approach to biosecurity is internationally recognised for delivering the highest standards of protection from pests, diseases, and invasive non-native species. This begins with the vital process of horizon scanning to detect potential risks, it includes robust measures to prevent and detect incursions as well as a capacity to respond effectively to contain or eradicate outbreaks that may occur. This is underpinned by world-class scientific capabilities and collaboration internationally and across Government through key links with industry, stakeholder organisations and the wider public.
Safeguard measures under the OIE code may be put in place to ban the import of goods because of a new or emerging disease threat. Although such measures have not been introduced domestically to date, we continue to monitor developments and to consider our response should we receive any applications to import raw mink fur.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
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 has taken since March 2021 to mitigate the potential risks involved in the (a) import to and (b) export from the UK of raw mink furskins and related items under customs commodity code 430110.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) has recently concluded that there is insufficient evidence to consider raw mink fur skins as safe for international trade because of the SARS-CoV-2 risk. Further evidence is needed to improve our understanding of any other risks to human or animal health potentially posed by international trade in contaminated pelts or fur. The UK has been closely involved in these discussions.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has established that no specific authorisations have been issued for the import of untreated furs from third countries into the UK in the last two years. This view is supported by analysis of data from the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), which is used to notify enforcement authorities about imports of live animals, animal products and high-risk food and feed not of animal origin into Great Britain. No Export Health Certificates have been issued by the domestic authorities for raw mink skins and APHA data also show no evidence of any UK export of this commodity.
The UK's approach to biosecurity is internationally recognised for delivering the highest standards of protection from pests, diseases, and invasive non-native species. This begins with the vital process of horizon scanning to detect potential risks, it includes robust measures to prevent and detect incursions as well as a capacity to respond effectively to contain or eradicate outbreaks that may occur. This is underpinned by world-class scientific capabilities and collaboration internationally and across Government through key links with industry, stakeholder organisations and the wider public.
Safeguard measures under the OIE code may be put in place to ban the import of goods because of a new or emerging disease threat. Although such measures have not been introduced domestically to date, we continue to monitor developments and to consider our response should we receive any applications to import raw mink fur.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
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 safety of raw mink furskins and related items under customs code 430110 as commodities for (a) import to or (b) export from the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) has recently concluded that there is insufficient evidence to consider raw mink fur skins as safe for international trade because of the SARS-CoV-2 risk. Further evidence is needed to improve our understanding of any other risks to human or animal health potentially posed by international trade in contaminated pelts or fur. The UK has been closely involved in these discussions.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has established that no specific authorisations have been issued for the import of untreated furs from third countries into the UK in the last two years. This view is supported by analysis of data from the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), which is used to notify enforcement authorities about imports of live animals, animal products and high-risk food and feed not of animal origin into Great Britain. No Export Health Certificates have been issued by the domestic authorities for raw mink skins and APHA data also show no evidence of any UK export of this commodity.
The UK's approach to biosecurity is internationally recognised for delivering the highest standards of protection from pests, diseases, and invasive non-native species. This begins with the vital process of horizon scanning to detect potential risks, it includes robust measures to prevent and detect incursions as well as a capacity to respond effectively to contain or eradicate outbreaks that may occur. This is underpinned by world-class scientific capabilities and collaboration internationally and across Government through key links with industry, stakeholder organisations and the wider public.
Safeguard measures under the OIE code may be put in place to ban the import of goods because of a new or emerging disease threat. Although such measures have not been introduced domestically to date, we continue to monitor developments and to consider our response should we receive any applications to import raw mink fur.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what date officials in his Department provided the Department for International Trade with the completed technical documents translated into Japanese necessary to apply for the UK's new geographical indications, as part of the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Following the contract award on 2 December 2020, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) provided the geographical indications technical documents to Acuity translations with a view to work commencing on 23 December 2020. Defra received all the completed translations of the geographical indication technical documents on 1 February 2021 and provided the Department for International Trade with these documents on 13 April 2021 as requested following discussion with Japanese counterparts.