Oral Answers to Questions Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Neil Hudson
Main Page: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)Department Debates - View all Neil Hudson's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(1 day, 14 hours ago)
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Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)
Stakeholders have expressed alarm about the fact that the Government’s guidance for businesses on the UK-EU SPS agreement, published last week, has legislation in scope on the use of hormones, including bovine somatotrophin, in livestock. The use of growth-promoting hormones for livestock and of bovine somatotrophin are rightly banned in the UK and EU because of serious animal welfare issues and public health concerns, and bovine somatotrophin is linked to a 25% increase in mastitis in cows. For the sake of animal welfare, will the Minister give a clear assurance that the UK will maintain our bans on hormone-treated beef, ractopamine-treated pork and bovine somatotrophin-treated dairy, and that none of those standards will be weakened or traded away in the EU SPS negotiations, or in trade deals with other countries? Will she also confirm whether the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024, which ended the export of live animals for slaughter or fattening, will be retained in the reset?
Mr Speaker
Order. Dr Hudson, I have the greatest respect for you; you have more knowledge of this than anyone in this Chamber. However, we cannot have five questions. I have to get others in. Secretary of State, pick whichever question you want.