Sarah Champion

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible for general product labelling on food products and the Department for Business and Trade works closely with them on this issue.

The Government has high standards regarding the information provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food they buy. No company in the UK should have forced labour in its supply chain. The Government expects businesses to respect human rights and the environment throughout their supply chain in line with the OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct, the UN Guiding Principles, and the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

I have written to the supermarkets concerned to request a full account of the allegations raised in the BBC Panorama documentary and the steps they are taking to investigate.

The Government will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of the UK’s existing measures, alongside the impacts of other policy tools. As set out in my response of 10 October 2024, this Government is committed to working with businesses and international partners to ensure global supply chains are free from human and labour rights abuses and to understand the impact of measures used to combat forced labour.

The Government is committed to working with international partners and businesses to ensure global supply chains are free from environmental harms, and human and labour rights abuses. No UK company should have these in their supply chains.

The Government is reviewing the detail and implementation of the EU’s Forced Labour Regulation and its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, as well the US’s Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act, and will continue to engage with our European and US partners to understand how we best tackle environmental harms, modern slavery and forced labour in supply chains.

UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) fund a variety of approaches to research on conditions affecting humans. One third of MRC (Medical Research Council) and BBSRC’s (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) research grants involve the use of animals licensed under ASPA (Animals Scientific Procedures Act) in some part of the research project. There are no active grants using cats.

Although animal use is still considered important for many research areas, UKRI funds multiple approaches to the replacement of animals in research, including through core funding to the NC3Rs (National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research).

Many of the regulations on animal testing are backed by international agreements and the government is keen to ensure regulatory alignment where appropriate. We are engaging with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), who represent the UK at the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use, on how to accelerate the acceptance of data generated using non-animal methods for drug safety decision making. Government officials and representatives of the NC3Rs regularly attend international meetings to collaborate on best practice and to consider approaches to reducing reliance on animal testing.

The Labour Manifesto included a commitment to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”, which is a long-term goal. The government will be consulting civil society and animal protection organisations as this process unfolds.

The government is committed to reducing use of animals in scientific research in the long term. Our approach has been to support the development and application of approaches that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs).

It is not yet possible to replace all animal use due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements for their use.

We recognise that any work to phase out animal testing must be science led, in lock step with partners, and so we will not be setting arbitrary timelines for reducing their use.

We recognise the need to take action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation, and we will set out our approach to addressing this in due course.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 27227, no policy decisions about these animals in relation to the Animal Welfare Act (2006) have been made whilst the evidence-base is being built.

Defra officials gratefully received information which the honourable member kindly provided in her recent letter to me. The information was reported by a washing machine filter technology group describing solutions to tackling microplastics and microfibres as a product of washing textiles and clothing. Officials are currently assessing the details.

The Government is concerned about the risks microplastics in our water environment may pose to public health and to the environment. Defra is working with water companies to investigate microplastics detected during wastewater treatment and their potential to enter the receiving aquatic environment.

The Government is concerned about the possible risks to public health and wildlife from microplastics which enter the environment from the atmosphere and road runoff and from washing machines.

Previous collaborative work with the water industry found that microplastic from clothing and textiles make up a small proportion (around 1%) of the total microplastics found within wastewater treatment works.

We are continuing to investigate microplastics and the risks they may have to public health and to the environment. Defra is working with water companies to investigate microplastics detected during wastewater treatment and their potential to enter the receiving aquatic environment.

The Government is committed to an evidence-based approach to improve welfare standards for decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs. Defra is commissioning research and expert opinion to inform any future policy decisions and welcomes the continued dialogue with stakeholders. No policy decisions have been made.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.

The Government is committed to an evidence-based approach to improve welfare standards for decapod crustaceans and cephalopod molluscs. Defra seeks to commission research and expert opinion to inform any future policy decisions and welcomes the continued dialogue with stakeholders.

Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector in Great Britain. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to produce a report on what constitutes responsible sourcing of fur. The AWC report will add to our understanding of the fur industry and help inform our next steps.

The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable consumers to make informed decisions.

Country of origin information is required for fresh and frozen meat of beef cattle, sheep, goat, pigs and poultry, as well as uncut fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, wine and some fish products. It is also required for all prepacked food where its omission would be misleading to consumers.

Additional labelling rules apply for foods with primary ingredients. For processed food, where the origin of the primary ingredient is different to that of the food itself and the origin of the food is given, an indication that the origin of the primary ingredient is different must also be provided, for example 'British cheese made with milk from Ireland.’

In any case, where an origin or provenance is given or indicated including when provided voluntarily this must always be accurate.

The Marine Protected Areas Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2023, which came into force on 22 March 2024, prohibited the use of bottom-towed gear over the reef habitats of North Norfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef Marine Protected Area. The Marine Management Organisation has been making further assessments of the impact of fishing activities on other designated habitats throughout the site and, if needed, will consult on further fishing restrictions. As mentioned in my answers to PQ 4529 and PQ 11005, the Department is considering next steps for this and other sites.

The Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation and will bring forward plans in due course. Ministers will be considering available evidence around the use of hand-controlled e-collars and their effects on the welfare of animals.

The Marine Protected Areas Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2023, which came into force on 22 March 2024, prohibited the use of bottom-towed gear over the rock and reef habitats of Farnes East Marine Protected Area. The Marine Management Organisation has been making further assessments of the impact of fishing activities on other designated habitats throughout the site and, if needed, will consult on further fishing restrictions. As mentioned in my answer to PQ 4529, the Department is considering next steps for this and other sites.

The thresholds for qualification under Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility remain in line with those set out in the Packaging Waste Regulations 2007 which sets the threshold for businesses handling at least 50 tonnes of packaging materials and with a turnover of £2 million a year. This decision was made following extensive consultation, which also considered reduction or removal of the threshold, to encourage all producers to use less packaging and ensure the packaging they do use is easy to recycle.

To support this aim, the Government is also introducing a new distributor approach which places a new obligation on large packaging manufacturers and importers that sell unfilled packaging to small, unobligated producers, ensuring all packaging is subject to extended producer responsibility.

Once the scheme is fully operational, we will review these thresholds to ensure they continue to meet the aims of the scheme. This will include the impact of inflation, and the effectiveness of the new distributor obligations, to ensure that we are obligating as much packaging as possible whilst still protecting the smallest businesses from the burden of complying with the regulations.

On 30 August, the Government announced the start of work on a comprehensive new strategy for England, to drive down bovine TB rates to save cattle and farmers’ livelihoods and end the badger cull by the end of this parliament. This will be undertaken in co-design with farmers, vets, scientists and conservationists, ensuring the new strategy marks a significant step-change in approach to tackling this devastating disease.

The published policy guidance as introduced by the previous Government does not require routine post-mortem examinations on badgers removed under culling licences issued in the High Risk and Edge Areas of England. There are no plans to change this guidance, with existing cull processes agreed by the previous Government being honoured to ensure clarity for farmers, while new measures can be rolled out through the work on a new bovine TB eradication strategy.

Information on the number of culled badgers that have been previously tested under licences in the High Risk and Edge Area can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-surveillance-in-wildlife-in-england.

Information on the number of culled badgers that have been tested (including the proportion positive for Mycobacterium bovis) in the Low Risk Area is published annually on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-hotspots-in-the-low-risk-area-of-england.

Under the previous Government, the 2022 Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) impact assessment made an assessment of the impact of introducing the scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment covered glass, aluminium, plastic and other materials, but did not split the assessment by sector.

The new Government has now published two sets of pEPR illustrative base fees and is undertaking engagement with all relevant industries to ensure that they are based on the best evidence to date.

As part of this engagement, the potential impact on specific packaging sectors is being discussed. The pEPR scheme administrator will continue to monitor the impact of implementing the pEPR scheme on the packaging market.

The UK Government welcomes the broad principles set out in the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency and sees considerable merit in its objective of improving transparency and accountability in global fisheries governance and management.

The UK already implements many of the policies set out in the Charter. These include: requiring the use of identification numbers on fishing vessels; publishing beneficial ownership data within the People with Significant Control register; not permitting transshipment of fish at sea; and ratifying key international agreements such as the Agreement on Port State Measures, International Labour Organization (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the Work in Fishing Convention (C188).

We will continue to keep under active review the steps we can take to combat illegal fishing and will continue to welcome engagement with the organisations who have produced the Charter.

Fisheries regulators make detailed assessments of the impact of all fishing activities on the protected species and habitats in our Marine Protected Areas and develop byelaws to restrict fishing when it has been assessed as damaging. These site-by-site assessments help to ensure fishing is not unduly restricted. Recent examples of these assessments can be found at Stage_2_MPA_Fisheries_Assessment.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk) and Dogger_Bank_SAC_Fisheries_Assessment.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk).