Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Imperial College London, entitled Palm oil supply chain complexity impedes implementation of corporate no-deforestation commitments, published in May 2018.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
We are aware of the report by Imperial College London entitled ‘Palm oil supply chain complexities impedes implementation of corporate no-deforestation commitments.’
Although we have no plans to formally assess the report, the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan makes clear the UK’s commitment to supporting the implementation of deforestation-free supply chains for key commodities, including palm oil, working with a broad range of stakeholders.
We are a co-signatory to the Amsterdam Declarations, which are political agreements that aim to support the implementation of private sector commitments on deforestation and sustainable palm oil. We are also a member of Tropical Forest Alliance 2020; a public-private co-operation working to help organisations achieve their deforestation-free commitment, eliminate illegality from supply chains and improve the quality and availability of deforestation and supply chain data.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to continue the existing pet passport scheme once the UK has left the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Whilst we are a member of the EU, we continue to be signed up to the requirements of the pet travel scheme.
The Government is negotiating our departure from the EU and Defra is looking at future arrangements, including those for pet travel. We want pet owners to continue to be able to travel to and from the EU with the minimum of disruption, whilst maintaining high biosecurity and animal welfare standards.
Whatever the outcome of negotiations, owners will be able to continue to travel to the EU with their pets, but there may be changes to the system. The extent of any potential changes will depend on the outcome of negotiations.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish his response to the consultation on the draft Animal Welfare (Sentencing and Recognition of Sentience) Bill.
Answered by George Eustice
I refer my Hon Friend to the reply given to the Hon Member for Bristol East on 27 March 2018 to PQ 133919.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on food security.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK has a high degree of food security, as demonstrated by the 2010 UK Food Security Assessment. Defra is currently undertaking a periodic review of the overall assessment. The UK sources food from a diverse range of countries, in addition to a strong domestic production base. The main drivers of food price changes are oil prices and weather events. This will not change after leaving the EU.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the poultry meat sector has adequate access to skilled staff after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Access to a sufficient and appropriately-skilled workforce is essential to continued industry growth, productivity and safety. We are working with industry to ensure that we understand the labour supply and demand across the food chain, including the poultry sector, and the effect of leaving the EU.
Until we have left the EU, employers can continue to recruit EU workers to meet their labour needs. In December 2017 the UK Government reached an agreement with the EU that will allow those EU citizens to work and live here broadly as they do now.
Defra is working closely with the Home Office as we work towards developing a new immigration system following our departure from the EU. As part of this, the Government has commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to assess the role that EU citizens play in the UK economy and society.
For the longer term, Defra is working with industry to raise awareness of the career opportunities within the agriculture and food industry to attract domestic workers, and is exploring the potential for innovation and automation in meeting future labour demands.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of leaving the EU on the labour requirements of the poultry business to (a) sustain and (b) increase levels of production.
Answered by George Eustice
Access to a sufficient and appropriately-skilled workforce is essential to continued industry growth, productivity and safety. We are working with industry to ensure that we understand the labour supply and demand across the food chain, including the poultry sector, and the effect of leaving the EU.
Until we have left the EU, employers can continue to recruit EU workers to meet their labour needs. In December 2017 the UK Government reached an agreement with the EU that will allow those EU citizens to work and live here broadly as they do now.
Defra is working closely with the Home Office as we work towards developing a new immigration system following our departure from the EU. As part of this, the Government has commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to assess the role that EU citizens play in the UK economy and society.
For the longer term, Defra is working with industry to raise awareness of the career opportunities within the agriculture and food industry to attract domestic workers, and is exploring the potential for innovation and automation in meeting future labour demands.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the maintenance of the poultry meat sector workforce after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Access to a sufficient and appropriately-skilled workforce is essential to continued industry growth, productivity and safety. We are working with industry to ensure that we understand the labour supply and demand across the food chain, including the poultry sector, and the effect of leaving the EU.
Until we have left the EU, employers can continue to recruit EU workers to meet their labour needs. In December 2017 the UK Government reached an agreement with the EU that will allow those EU citizens to work and live here broadly as they do now.
Defra is working closely with the Home Office as we work towards developing a new immigration system following our departure from the EU. As part of this, the Government has commissioned the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to assess the role that EU citizens play in the UK economy and society.
For the longer term, Defra is working with industry to raise awareness of the career opportunities within the agriculture and food industry to attract domestic workers, and is exploring the potential for innovation and automation in meeting future labour demands.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many enforcement checks were carried out by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (a) during the loading of live animals and (b) at ports from which live animals were exported in 2017.
Answered by George Eustice
Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are not an enforcement body but do carry out regulatory checks, in this case supervised loadings and checks at port.
In 2017, APHA conducted:-
(a) 71 checks during the loading of live animals export consignments.
(b) 85 mid-journey compliance checks were undertaken at the ports from which live animals were exported.
When approving proposed journeys for the export of livestock, APHA conduct a risk assessment which scores proposed journeys with a final destination of the EU, or where transiting the EU, against criteria affecting the likelihood of non-compliances.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will seek legal advice on whether the UK can introduce a ban on the import of fur while the UK is a member of the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
The Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) places restrictions on the introduction of measures that impair the free movement of goods within the EU market.
Where there are EU harmonising measures relevant to the movement of fur – including the Animal By-Products Regulation in respect of untreated fur and the Seal Products Regulation – any derogation from those in the form of a national restriction would need to meet the requirements of Article 114 TFEU or any specific safeguard measure included in the harmonising legislation. This would involve notifying the measures to the European Commission who would need to be satisfied that the issue is “specific to that Member State”, that it would not amount to a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction on trade, or an obstacle to the functioning of the internal market.
Introducing a ban in the absence of such consent where it is needed would breach Article 114 TFEU.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which EU (a) networks, (b) information systems and (c) databases his Department expects to (i) lose access to and (ii) pay to be part of and (iii) replicate after the UK has left the EU; and what assessment his Department has made of the cost of (A) paying for access and (B) replicating those systems.
Answered by George Eustice
We are seeking a deep and special partnership with the EU consistent with this taking back control of our borders, laws, money and trade. Our relationship with the EU's agencies and systems upon departure will be evaluated on this basis.
No decisions have yet been made on our future relationship with the EU's agencies and systems after leaving the EU. We are considering a range of options very carefully.
Where there is a demonstrable advantage in pursuing a continued relationship with an agency or other EU body, the Government will carefully examine whether we should pursue this. This will be a matter for negotiations.
We are also making preparations to replicate some EU systems where this may be necessary.