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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of foreign ownership of abattoirs in England.

Abattoirs require veterinary control and approval by the FSA under Regulation (EC) 853/2004 - a full list of approved establishments can be found here. Whilst trends in the level of foreign ownership of abattoirs in England is not something that we are monitoring specifically, we are aware of and welcome foreign investment in our meat processing facilities. In particular, there is significant investment from Irish and Danish businesses in UK processing. Irrespective of ownership all abattoirs must comply with our high animal welfare and food safety standards.