Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times the UK has requested a quicker action on a chemical restriction, including additional rapid phase-out deadlines, that have been blocked by (a) other Member States and (b) the European Chemicals Agency.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In 2012 the UK proposed that the substance decaBDE should be classified as a substance of very high concern (SVHC), which would be followed by authorisation procedures to limit its use. DecaBDE was listed as an SVHC, as proposed by the UK, but the EU decided not to proceed with authorisation procedures, and took an alternative route of restriction instead. The restriction was not adopted until 2017. The EU’s decision to opt for a restriction rather than continuing with the authorisation process resulted in a delay in regulatory action.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions the UK has opposed the restriction of a chemical by (a) another Member State and (b) the European Chemicals Agency.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Chemicals are restricted under the European Union’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulation.
Under REACH, the UK has opposed the restriction of two chemicals:
The extension of a restriction on Poly-Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) to consumer items (Annex XVII, entry 50, paragraphs 5-7);
A restriction on Methanol in windscreen washing or defrosting fluids (Annex XVII, entry 69, paragraph 1).
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times the UK has objected to a substance being named as a substance of very high concern by the European Chemicals Agency.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Where an SVHC proposal has gone to the Member State Committee the UK has objected to seven substances. Of these seven substances, the UK has subsequently given its assent to four after modification of the proposal.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the debate of 25 February 2019, on Exiting the European Union (Consumer Protection) motion debate, Official Report column 75, what progress has been made on setting up the IT system intended to support the establishment of UK REACH.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In the event of a no-deal scenario, the UK REACH IT system will provide the critical functionality needed to support UK REACH and provide continuity for UK business. REACH IT is being built in a phased approach, prioritising all essential industry user functions for the end of March 2019. This will enable industry to register new chemicals and those with existing REACH registrations to provide the UK Agency, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), with details to verify those registrations.
We have tested this system in recent weeks with over 100 industry users, receiving positive feedback during its testing phase. The decision was made not to switch to deploying contingency plans as we are confident that the UK REACH IT system will be ready from 29 March.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 15 January 2019 to Question 207205 on Dredging of the Port of Ramsgate, whether the Marine Management Organisation have granted a license to the Port of Ramsgate for the dredging of the port as part contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Under section 75 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act, certain activities by a harbour authority (or on behalf of one), within their area, are exempt from requiring a marine licence if they have a local act or a harbour order (the Ramsgate Corporation Act 1934 is the relevant local act in this case).
As a result of the dredging activity, referenced within the answer provided on 15 January 2019 to Question 207205, no arisings are being physically excavated during the dredging work and there is no material which requires disposal. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has not therefore granted a licence for the specific works being undertaken.
The MMO did issue a separate marine licence (L/2016/00086/2) on 18 March 2016 for ongoing maintenance and navigational dredging to the Port of Ramsgate which licences activity at the port until 2026.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 15 January 2019 to Question 207205 on Ramsgate Port: Dredging, whether the Marine Management Organisation has granted a license to Seaborne Freight for operation in Ramsgate.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Marine Management Organisation has not issued a marine licence to Seaborne Freight for works relating to activity within the Port of Ramsgate.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 15 January 2019 to Question 207205 on dredging of the Port of Ramsgate, whether Natural England were informed of the Environmental Impact Assessment conducted by the Port of Ramsgate prior to the dredging of the port as part of contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by George Eustice
From discussions with the Port of Ramsgate and its owner, Thanet District Council, Natural England (NE) understands that the dredging undertaken at the start of this year is considered to be maintenance dredging and as such is covered by previous environmental assessments.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Natural England has made a Habitat Regulation Assessment prior to the dredging of the Port of Ramsgate.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In 2010/2011, Natural England (NE) worked with Ramsgate Harbour on environmental assessment and monitoring of their water injection dredging activities, including a Habitats Regulations Assessment of the activity undertaken at that time. After noting reports that dredging was taking place in order to prepare the port for expansion via water injection, NE have contacted the port directly to clarify what dredging is being undertaken, including volumes and locations. NE have also been in touch with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to clarify under which powers the port are undertaking this activity and whether an MMO licence would be required.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many packaging producers have been reported by packaging producer compliance schemes for not meeting their packaging recycling note obligations in each of the last five years; and how many of those reports have been investigated.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Between December 2013 and 18 December 2018, 70 suspected packaging freeriders were reported to the Environment Agency by approved packaging compliance schemes.
All reported freeriders have initially been assessed to establish a risk profile.
64 of the 70 reported freeriders have been subject to further investigation. Of the remaining 6, 2 were found to already be registered and the remaining 4 were considered a low risk.
Asked by: Mary Creagh (Labour - Wakefield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many in-flight files of EU legislation exist that affect the policy areas managed by his Department; and which in-flight files of EU legislation his Department intends to implement in UK law.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
During the time-limited implementation period, EU law will continue to apply in the UK subject to the terms set out in the Withdrawal Agreement.
After the implementation period, all laws in the UK will be passed by our elected representatives in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. The Political Declaration recognises that the UK may choose to align with the EU’s rules in relevant areas to facilitate trade in goods or security cooperation.
In the unlikely event that the backstop were to come into effect, a small fraction of EU rules applying today would apply in Northern Ireland and EU rules on state aid would apply in the UK. However, as the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration make absolutely clear, we do not want or expect the backstop to be needed – and even if it ever were to come into effect, it would be strictly temporary.
The Official Journal of the European Union publishes upcoming EU legislation for implementation. This is publicly available online:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/oj/direct-access.html