Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
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 implement the recommendations in the Independent Review into Public Sector Food Procurement, published in May 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently considering the policy options available to deliver further on our ambitions for public sector food and catering. We are engaging with stakeholders across public sector supply chains and are carefully reflecting on possible policy options. The findings of the Independent Review into Public Sector Food Procurement will be considered as part of this ongoing policy development process.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) enforcement of the current illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing import controls.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is strongly committed to preventing seafood caught from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering the UK supply chain. Defra works closely with the Devolved Governments, Marine Management Organisation and Port Health Authorities to manage the risk of illegally caught fish entering the UK. For example, the UK maintains a strict ban on seafood imports from countries that have been identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing as well as seafood caught by vessels included in the UK’s IUU vessel list identified as having engaged in IUU fishing. Controls are also in place to prevent foreign vessels accessing UK ports if suspected of engaging in IUU fishing. Furthermore, all wild-caught fish imported into the UK must be accompanied by validated catch certificates to ensure legality and traceability.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of animal welfare enforcement in commercial pig farms; and what steps she is taking to ensure that audit and inspection processes lead to (a) timely investigation, (b) transparency and (c) meaningful sanctions where breaches are identified.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All farm animals are protected by comprehensive and robust animal health and welfare legislation, and potential breaches of the law are taken very seriously. We are actively working with enforcement authorities to reform the way they collect and publish data of on-farm enforcement activities and the actions they take to support compliance and act on non-compliance. We will also explore whether the current enforcement tools used by our enforcement bodies are effective, proportionate and transparent.