Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 is taking to support UK exporters of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil facing delays at EU Border Control Posts.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra actively supports GB exporters of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil to navigate EU Border Control Post processes. To assist exporters, Defra has issued detailed Notes for Guidance outlining the certification process, including specific requirements that must be met to ensure compliance with EU legislation.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to meet representatives of the UK fishmeal and fish oil export sector to discuss (a) the impact of delays at EU ports and (b) potential solutions.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers continue to work closely with industry to address immediate challenges to the cross-border trade between the UK and EU.
As announced at the UK-EU Leaders’ Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area, aimed at reducing trade barriers to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of Agri-food Negotiations are expected to begin in the autumn.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how often physical sampling checks are applied by the Service d’Inspection Vétérinaire Et Phytosanitaire to UK consignments of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil exported through Calais; how long those checks take; and what representations she has made to her French counterpart on those checks.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The baseline frequency rate for physical checks on consignments of fishery products, is set out in EU legislation, though this may be increased where serious deficiencies are identified on specific goods. The EU regulations also require that for Processed Animal Protein (PAP), which includes fishmeal, the first six consignments of bulk imports are tested and their compliance verified by EU border controls before releasing the consignment.