Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many live (a) sheep and (b) cattle have been exported from the UK to other European countries in 2016; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
(a) Live sheep exported from the UK to EU Member States from 1 January 2016 to 31 October 2016:
UK to Republic of Ireland 337,385
UK to EU (except Republic of Ireland) 48,039
Total to all EU Member States 385,424
(b) Live cattle exported from the UK to EU Member States from 1 January 2016 to 31 October 2016:
UK to Republic of Ireland 12,159
UK to EU (except Republic of Ireland) 21,702
Total to all EU Member States 33,861
These figures have been collated from the EU Commission’s Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) Data Warehouse and include trade to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland (European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries) who accept EU trade.
The figures include sheep and cattle exported for the purposes of breeding, production/fattening and slaughter.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the lessons to be learned from the policies undertaken by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland in relation to the control of the spread of Bovine TB in cattle; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Animal health is a devolved policy matter. My department liaises closely with all three devolved administrations, including Northern Ireland, on matters of common interest. It is important that all four administrations can learn from our collective experiences and we have effective arrangements in place to make sure that happens.
In June 2015, the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office carried out an audit of the bovine tuberculosis eradication programme in Northern Ireland, a report of which is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/audits-analysis/audit_reports/details.cfm?rep_id=3560.
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
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 reduce the amount of (a) chemicals and (b) toxic metal being sprayed into the atmosphere above the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
We are committed to improving air quality through reducing harmful emissions. We have reduced emissions to the atmosphere (including toxic metals) significantly over the last 20 years through a range of measures including implementation of European Legislation. These trends are reported in the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory at: http://naei.defra.gov.uk/ and also reported in the annual report, Air Pollution in the UK at: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/library/annualreport/ .
Asked by: Lady Hermon (Independent - North Down)
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 made of the volumes of (a) chemicals and (b) toxic metals sprayed annually into the atmosphere above the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
The National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory compiles estimates of emissions to the atmosphere from UK sources. It is updated annually and covers a range of sources and sectors. A full list of sources included in the inventory can be found here: http://naei.defra.gov.uk/data/data-selector?view=air-pollutants.