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 effect on food supplies of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

We would prefer to leave with a deal and we will work in an energetic and determined way to deliver that better deal.

The UK food and drink supply chain contributes £121 billion to the economy and employs four million people (12% of UK employment). Food and drink manufacturing is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, while food and drink retail is the largest service sector employer.

Consumers have access to a wide range of food products when they shop and this will continue once we leave the EU. However, if key trade routes are temporarily disrupted, there would be reduced availability and choice of certain food products, including some of the fresh produce we import from the EU. If we have to leave with no deal, there will not be an overall shortage of food in the UK.

While we are reliant on imports of certain fresh products at this time of year, our market profiles clearly demonstrate strong UK winter production of many root vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, swedes, turnips, parsnips and leeks.