Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the export of pesticides banned in the UK to other countries; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Pesticides which are not approved or severely restricted in GB are regulated under the Prior Informed Consent Regulation (PIC). Companies intending to export these chemicals from the UK must notify the importing country via the exporter's Designated National Authority.
For GB the Designated National Authority is the Health and Safety Executive. Some pesticides additionally require the explicit consent of the importing country before export can take place. The exchange of information that GB PIC provides allows the importing countries to make informed decisions on the import of those chemicals and how to handle and use them safely.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
Whether he plans to maintain food and drink standards after the transition period.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
This Government is committed to upholding our high environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards as we leave the EU. The EU Withdrawal Act will transfer all existing food safety provisions, including existing import requirements, onto the UK statute book after the Transition Period. These requirements include a ban on using artificial growth hormones in domestic and imported products, and set out that no products, other than potable water, are approved to decontaminate poultry carcasses.
Our manifesto is clear that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.
We are already engaging with the agricultural sector as part of our trade discussions and we will continue to work closely with the National Farmers’ Union and other relevant stakeholders across the food chain to understand the concerns about the impact of new trade deals, as well as the opportunities. The Government has in place a range of stakeholder groups to feed into our policy development on trade. These include the Strategic Trade Advisory Group, the Agri-Food Expert Trade Advisory Group and various supply chain groups.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to create a new statutory definition of animal sentience.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government has committed to bringing in new laws on animal sentience. Any necessary changes required to domestic legislation will be made in a rigorous and comprehensive way after the transition period and will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows. Defra is currently assessing how best to support Government departments in considering the welfare needs of sentient animals when they are developing and implementing Government policy.
Defra engages with a wide range of stakeholders on a number of animal welfare issues, including animal sentience.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the importation of (a) cat, (b) dog and (c) seal fur after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
There are EU regulations which ban the importation of cat and dog fur and seal products including fur. The Government will bring forward legislation in the next session that, when enacted, will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 and ensure a functioning statute book on the day we leave the EU. This ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will end the authority of EU law and return power to the UK. The Bill will convert existing European Union law into domestic law, wherever practical.