Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many civil servants in her Department have been assigned to preparations for a EU-UK agreement on a common sanitary and phytosanitary area.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Negotiating and delivering an SPS Agreement with the EU is a whole of Government effort. It is a big priority for the department. We are working very closely with the Cabinet Office. Defra’s trade staff work flexibly across trade deals according to demand.

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 number and scope of regulations in which there has been (a) active and (b) passive divergence between UK and European Union sanitary and phytosanitary rules; and whether her Department intends to prevent further divergence while EU-UK negotiations on a common sanitary and phytosanitary area are in progress.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

When it has been deemed appropriate for GB policy to actively diverge from EU regulations, steps have always been taken to consider how a change could impact businesses looking to sell into UK, NI and EU markets, and if they will be required to adhere to different regulations and systems for each.

The Government has begun negotiations with the EU on the SPS agreement. It is too early to assess the nature of the workloads which will result should an agreement be reached, but it is expected to be substantial.