Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of mined coal required annually for water filtration purposes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Coal-derived substances are used in water quality treatment processes and in other filtration devices. My department has not made an estimate of the amount of mined coal required annually for this purpose.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the 2018 Ivory Act to be implemented.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The consultation on the implementation of the Ivory Act 2018 was published on 9 March and closed on 4 May. We published a summary of responses on 14 September confirming our plans for implementation.
We plan to implement the ban this winter and for the ban to come into force in spring 2022.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
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 consider the potential merits of a scheme to safely remove unwanted ivory products in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Act will not affect the ownership of ivory items and therefore we have no plans for a Government surrender scheme for unwanted ivory items at this time. We recognise that, for some low value items, owners may decide it is not cost-effective to register them for sale. This will be a decision for individual owners. Such items may of course be gifted, donated, or bequeathed rather than discarded. We will explain to owners what options are available to them as part of our awareness raising campaign.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of a UK-EU veterinary agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary rules on movements of animals and food products on Welsh (a) exports and (b) imports.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
We continue to engage with the EU on steps we can take to reduce trade frictions. At the first meeting of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Partnership Council on 9 June, the UK emphasised the importance of cooperating to avoid unnecessary SPS barriers, and reiterated that we are open to an SPS agreement based on equivalence.
The UK proposed a mechanism to agree equivalence during the TCA negotiations, which the EU did not countenance. We are open to discussions with the EU on additional steps to further reduce trade friction, but these cannot be on the basis of future alignment with EU rules. This would compromise UK sovereignty over our own laws.
Our TCA also provides an alternative framework for agreeing trade facilitations going forward. Over time, this will help to reduce the burden on businesses from border controls and certification requirements. We will seek to reduce checks safely through the regular dialogue both sides have committed to in the agreement.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with EU representatives on the UK-EU veterinary agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary rules on movements of animals and food products.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
We continue to engage with the EU on steps we can take to reduce trade frictions. At the first meeting of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Partnership Council on 9 June, the UK emphasised the importance of cooperating to avoid unnecessary SPS barriers, and reiterated that we are open to an SPS agreement based on equivalence.
The UK proposed a mechanism to agree equivalence during the TCA negotiations, which the EU did not countenance. We are open to discussions with the EU on additional steps to further reduce trade friction, but these cannot be on the basis of future alignment with EU rules. This would compromise UK sovereignty over our own laws.
Our TCA also provides an alternative framework for agreeing trade facilitations going forward. Over time, this will help to reduce the burden on businesses from border controls and certification requirements. We will seek to reduce checks safely through the regular dialogue both sides have committed to in the agreement.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the level of shortages of (a) fishmongers, (b) butchers and (c) poultry processors in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
This year Defra is working closely with industry to ensure that our sectors have the labour they need for 2021 and beyond. Defra is regularly speaking with industry and making use of all available information to understand the national labour supply picture. We will keep labour market data under very careful scrutiny to monitor any pressures in key sectors.
Fishmongers, butchers, and poultry processors are eligible for the Skilled Worker route under the points-based immigration system. The Skilled Worker route is open to all nationals who wish to come to the UK for the purpose of working in a skilled job they have been offered. Migrants need to meet mandatory criteria - a job offer from an approved sponsor, a job offer at the appropriate skills level, English language skills and criminality checks.
In 2021 and beyond, food and farming businesses will continue to be able to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Over five million EU citizens and their families have been granted settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme to date, and the application deadline is 30 June 2021.
The Government encourages all sectors to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers through offering training, careers options, wage increases and to invest in increased automation technology.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) UK food exporters and (b) his counterparts in the EU on negotiating a veterinary agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary rules with the EU.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) puts in place a framework (including an SPS Specialised Committee) that allows the UK and the EU to take informed decisions to reduce their respective SPS controls, with a commitment to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade. It is in both Parties' interests to use this framework to reduce the rate of SPS checks required.
We are open to discussions with the EU on additional steps we can take to further reduce trade friction, but these cannot be on the basis of future alignment with EU rules as this would compromise UK sovereignty over our own laws.
Defra's reach and engagement with the agri-food sector is extensive and well established. We have maintained and built on conversations with stakeholders over the last four years, to ensure a strong two-way dialogue at both a ministerial and official level. We engage directly with the largest exporting businesses (the top ten of whom alone account for around 25% of exports). We also reach businesses through trade associations. The Secretary of State meets fortnightly with the F4 group, representing the four main business representative organisations across the agri-food chain: the Food and Drink Federation, National Farmers' Union, UK Hospitality and the British Retail Consortium.
In order to hold productive discussions on specific issues, Defra holds regular forums with the different food and drink sectors. For example, we engage the farming sector through groups such as the Arable and Livestock Chain Advisory Groups, manufacturers through the Food and Drink Manufacturers Roundtable and meat processors through the M4 forum. Defra also holds a Retailer Forum and has regular calls with Wholesale stakeholders.
Regular meetings such as the F4 and F4 sub-groups have allowed for productive two-way engagement with stakeholders across the supply chain. They are an important source of intelligence and industry feedback is that this approach of bringing stakeholders and policy experts together is making good progress towards resolving issues.