Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to lay regulations on the use of microbeads.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
On Friday 21st July, the Government published the summary of responses to our consultation on plans to ban the manufacture and sale of cosmetics and personal care products containing microbeads. We notified our proposals under the Technical Standards Directive (EU) and the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement (WTO) on 28 July. This stage in the process takes 3 months and will end on 28 October subject to there being no valid objections. We intend to introduce legislation later this year.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 reduce the use of plastic packaging for food.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We do not collect data on the percentage of food packaging that is recyclable.
Packaging has an important and positive role to play in reducing product damage and minimising food waste. Keeping food fresher for longer through innovations such as vacuum packing and re-sealable packs has a significant impact on extending the life of products and reducing waste.
Great progress in reduction of food packaging has been made through the Courtauld commitment. Courtauld 3 signatories reduced food and packaging waste in the supply chain by 3% between 2012 and 2015, preventing 219,000 tonnes of waste and 555,000t of CO2e. Signatories to the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement reduced their food and packaging waste by 11% between 2012 and 2015, exceeding their 5% target.
This Government remains committed to preventing waste where possible and will be consulting widely on our plans for resources, waste and recycling in developing our waste and resources strategy.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of food packaging is recyclable.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We do not collect data on the percentage of food packaging that is recyclable.
Packaging has an important and positive role to play in reducing product damage and minimising food waste. Keeping food fresher for longer through innovations such as vacuum packing and re-sealable packs has a significant impact on extending the life of products and reducing waste.
Great progress in reduction of food packaging has been made through the Courtauld commitment. Courtauld 3 signatories reduced food and packaging waste in the supply chain by 3% between 2012 and 2015, preventing 219,000 tonnes of waste and 555,000t of CO2e. Signatories to the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement reduced their food and packaging waste by 11% between 2012 and 2015, exceeding their 5% target.
This Government remains committed to preventing waste where possible and will be consulting widely on our plans for resources, waste and recycling in developing our waste and resources strategy.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 her Department's consultation, Animal welfare: reviewing animal establishments licensing in England, published in December 2015, what the evidential basis was for the conclusion that a ban on third party sales of puppies would lead to the creation of an illegal market.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government consulted on changes to the regulations on the breeding and sale of dogs earlier this year. While the Government did not propose a ban on third party sales, some responses were received in relation to this matter. Evidence was also presented to the recent EFRA Committee inquiry by Blue Cross, and The Dogs Trust on the annual demand for puppies and the risks of applying such a ban.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department takes to monitor the enforcement of the Pet Animals Act 1951 by local authorities.
Answered by George Eustice
We are currently reviewing the laws on the selling of pet animals with the aim of replacing the Pet Animals Act 1951 with regulations made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The purpose of the new regulations will be to ensure that it is easier for local authorities to enforce and to improve animal welfare.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she is having with the Secretary of State for Justice on increasing the penalties available for prosecutions relating to animal cruelty.
Answered by George Eustice
There has been previous Ministerial discourse on this issue with the Ministry of Justice, but no recent discussions at Ministerial level. Officials from each department have discussed the issue more recently and are considering the appropriate level of penalties for animal cruelty.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to (a) end third-party sales of puppies and (b) regulate adverts relating to the private sale of puppies.
Answered by George Eustice
We are currently reviewing the animal activities licensing schemes, including the breeding and selling of pet animals. We will, in due course, publish a document setting out our proposals for modernising the animal activities licensing schemes.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 promote farm produce made in the UK.
Answered by George Eustice
The Great British Food Unit brings together experts from across government and celebrates British food, encourages innovation and increases investment and exports by opening new global markets. 2016 is the Year of British Food and is the start of a five-year campaign. An example of recent campaign activity includes Defra jointly hosting a business summit with the Institute of Directors on 5 September. The summit was attended by around 120 representatives from Small and Medium enterprises (SME), including farmers, who attended sessions on how to grow their businesses.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 ensure that produce labelling does not suggest that produce not from British farms is from such farms.
Answered by George Eustice
The Food Information to Consumers Regulation (No 1169/2011) requires labelling to adhere to the principle that the consumer should not be misled. Article 26(2) of the Regulation imposes an obligation on food business operators to include an indication of the country of origin or place of provenance of a food if the failure to give that information might mislead an average consumer taking into account the label as a whole.
The food business operator is responsible for ensuring that a brand name it uses does not mislead the consumer. It is for the relevant enforcement authorities to assess whether they consider that the use of a brand name is ambiguous or confusing for the consumer on an individual case basis.