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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide translations of the consultation document and online survey on implementing due diligence on forest risk commodities, in order to aid those responding from source countries.

The UK Government published a consultation on 3 December 2021 to seek views on how the world-leading due diligence provisions introduced in the Environment Act should be implemented. The consultation will be open until 11 March 2022 and is available at: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/international-biodiversity-and-climate/implementing-due-diligence-forest-risk-commodities/

Although the legislation will only apply to relevant businesses operating in the UK, the consultation is open to respondents across the world. We want to hear from a wide range of stakeholders in the UK and internationally on the principles of our proposal, and to use their feedback to ensure that we design secondary legislation in the most effective way. Whilst we do not have plans to issue translations of the technical consultation document and online survey, Defra will continue to work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office to help ensure relevant stakeholders in other countries can engage effectively in the consultation.