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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions have taken place between ministers in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and ministers in the Department for International Trade to agree the underlying principles which would guarantee existing animal welfare and environmental standards in future trade deals.

Ministers and officials meet their counterparts in the Department for International Trade on a regular basis to discuss a range of issues in trade policy. Leaving the EU is a golden opportunity to secure bold and ambitious trade agreements, and these should not and will not lower environmental or animal welfare standards.