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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) prevalence and (b) impact on the level of methane emissions of the use of 3-nitroxyproponol by the (i) food and (ii) farming sectors in Northern Ireland.

We consider methane-suppressing feed products as an essential tool to decarbonise the agricultural sector, and in England we will work with industry to incentivise the uptake of high efficacy products with proven safety once suitable products enter the market.

3NOP (3-nitroxyproponol) is a promising product that is claimed to reduce methane emissions from ruminants by up to 30%. 3NOP was approved by the European Food Safety Authority for use in Europe (and by extension Northern Ireland) in 2022.

The prevalence and impact of these products on farming sectors in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive and the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.