Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to protect the status of Scottish whisky as a premium product in exports to the US after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Scotch Whisky is one of the UK’s great export success stories with global exports worth £4bn in 2016.
In the USA, Scotch Whisky is already protected in US Federal Law which refers to Scotch Whisky as, “whisky which is a distinctive product of Scotland, manufactured in Scotland in compliance with the laws of the United Kingdom regulating the manufacture of scotch whisky for consumption in the United Kingdom”. There is no reason for this to change as a result of EU exit.
More generally, our International Action Plan for food and drink exports details how Government and industry will continue to work in partnership to promote UK food and drink overseas, break down trade barriers and open up new international markets.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on steps he is taking to protect the status of EU migrant workers.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra Ministers have ongoing discussions with a range of government departments, including the Home Office, about securing the workforce industry needs for the future.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assistance he is receiving from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure that his Department is fully funded to undertake its review of EU legislation on food and agriculture.
Answered by George Eustice
Over 80% of Defra’s agenda is affected by the vote to leave the European Union. As a result, Defra has reviewed and reprioritised its work programme so that many roles across the Defra group are now supporting EU exit-related work, either directly or indirectly. Given its extensive impact, it is not possible to give an isolated figure of FTE civil servants working on, or budget for, the EU Exit programme alone.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 current food standards are maintained after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Existing rules on food standards will remain in place when the UK exits the EU to provide continuity for consumers and businesses. The Secretary of State has been clear that there will be no diminution or dilution of food standards after we leave the EU.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will maintain the existing moratorium on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
As part of the preparation for EU exit, we are considering future arrangements for the regulation of pesticides. Our highest priority will continue to be the protection of people and the environment.
The Government remains of the view that decisions on the use of pesticides should be based on a careful scientific assessment of the risks. Pesticides that carry unacceptable risks to pollinators should not be authorised. The Government keeps the developing evidence on neonicotinoids under review, advised by the UK Expert Committee on Pesticides, but on the basis of current available evidence, we support the existing restrictions.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how members of the public will be able to contribute to her Department's upcoming consultation on the 25 Year Plan for the environment.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In line with its manifesto, the Government is committed to being the first generation to leave the natural environment of England in a better state than that in which we found it. We are developing a 25 year environment plan to deliver this.
The first step towards developing the plan will be to publish soon a consultative document open to all to contribute either online or by mail. We will use the feedback from this to help develop the full plan itself next year.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will register the UK's support for closing domestic ivory markets irrespective of the EU support of this position.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
At the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that took place from 24 September to 5 October, proposals on the closure of domestic ivory markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade were agreed by all Parties by consensus. The UK supported this outcome, negotiating on the basis of a common EU and Member State position.
The agreement at CITES should form a strong basis for a global position on this important issue, which the UK will continue to support. It will not be revisited in the CITES context before the next Conference of Parties, which will take place in 2019. The UK will continue to comply with our EU treaty obligations, including our duty of sincere cooperation, until we formally leave the EU.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will commit the UK to voting in support of the closure of domestic ivory markets at forthcoming international conferences.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
At the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that took place from 24 September to 5 October, proposals on the closure of domestic ivory markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade were agreed by all Parties by consensus. The UK supported this outcome, negotiating on the basis of a common EU and Member State position.
The agreement at CITES should form a strong basis for a global position on this important issue, which the UK will continue to support. It will not be revisited in the CITES context before the next Conference of Parties, which will take place in 2019. The UK will continue to comply with our EU treaty obligations, including our duty of sincere cooperation, until we formally leave the EU.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
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 is taking to close the UK ivory market; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government is deeply concerned by the continued poaching of elephants for their ivory, which is why we are committed to maintaining the current global ban on any international trade in new ivory. The UK has made no formal assessment of the impact of other countries’ additional measures to restrict trade in ivory. However, as a further step in delivering the Government’s manifesto commitment to press for a total ban on ivory sales, on 21 September the Secretary of State announced plans for a ban on sales of items containing ivory dated between 1947 and the present day, putting UK rules on ivory sales among the world’s toughest. We will consult on plans for the ban early next year. This will complement the existing UK approach not to permit the trade of raw ivory tusks.
The Government also successfully lobbied for the EU-wide adoption of the existing UK ban on sales of raw ivory tusks, which was advocated through the EU Council Conclusions on an EU Action Plan on Wildlife Trafficking and adopted in June. This urged EU Member States not to issue export or re-export documents under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for raw, pre-Convention ivory (pre-1990) and to consider further measures to put a halt to commercial trade in ivory from elephants.
At the CITES Conference that took place from 24 September to 5 October the UK was involved in negotiations that successfully secured a strong agreement calling for the closure of domestic ivory markets where they contribute to poaching or illegal trade. This was agreed by all 183 Parties to CITES.