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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is her Department’s policy to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between food security agencies in her Department and respective UK devolved agencies and the European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism (EFSCM) Expert Group.

It is not the Department’s policy to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between food security agencies UK devolved agencies (DAs) and the European Food Security Crisis Preparedness and Response Mechanism (EFSCM) Expert Group.

However, recognising the importance of food security, in the Agriculture Act 2020, the Government made a commitment to produce an assessment of our food security at least once every three years. The first UK Food Security Report (UKFSR) was published in December 2021. This report will serve as an evidence base for future policy work.

In terms of engagement on food security we engage widely and frequently with both public and private sectors through various fora.

We engage with DAs through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group and the EFRA Resilience priority meetings. Routine engagement with DAs also takes place through the Food Resilience Industry Forum (FRIF).

Defra continues to engage with international partners in the G20 Agricultural Market Information System and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to facilitate smooth functioning of the global food trade. G7 Agricultural Ministers are committed to cooperating closely and taking concrete actions to safeguard global food security.

Defra closely monitors markets and supplies through the UK Agricultural Market Monitoring Group and other industry engagement forums to explore the factors that have contributed to ongoing supply chain pressures. As a result of recent fruit and vegetable supply issues, Defra is considering how government and industry can work together to mitigate these in the short and longer term.