Asked by: Harriet Harman (Labour - Camberwell and Peckham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to reduce the impact of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora regulations on UK musicians seeking to (a) work and (b) tour in the EU.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) places obligations on Parties to ensure international trade in wildlife is legal and sustainable.
Defra has worked closely with industry since leaving the EU to understand trade volumes and value, and to look at ways to minimise burdens and friction without reducing our high standards of environmental protection.
One option if travelling with a musical instrument for performance purposes is to apply for a CITES Musical Instrument Certificate (MIC). This is a streamlined process, specifically for musicians, which facilitates repeat movements over the course of three years. MICs are currently free of charge.
Defra will continue to work collaboratively with industry and other stakeholders to understand their needs, balance them against our duty to protect wildlife under the Convention, and identify priorities, as we prepare for the next meeting of the CITES Conference of Parties in 2025.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the financial impact on reptile owners of the changes proposed to regulations by her Department on the health risk of importing reptiles from the EU.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Live animals are inherently high risk. They cannot be kept in sealed containers and some of them pose not only a potential animal health risk but also a risk for the environment in the case of non-native species or invasive pests and a risk to the trade on endangered species (for example reptiles).
Movements of reptiles from Europe currently benefit from a transitional period during which reptile importers have free movement that applied prior to EU exit. As set out in the draft Target Operating Model, later in 2024 we expect all checks on reptiles (except pet animals) to be carried out at a live animal Border Control Post (BCP), as they become operational. Defra has not made any financial impact assessment on imports of reptiles.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason live reptiles imports from the EU have been moved from Low to High Risk under the Target Operating Model method.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Live animals are inherently high risk; they cannot be kept in sealed consignments and some of them pose not only a potential animal health risk but also a risk for the environment in the case of non-native species or invasive pests, and a risk to the trade on endangered species. Later in 2024 we expect all checks on live animals (except pet animals) to be carried out at a live animal Border Control Post, as they become operational.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to (a) estimate the economic cost of wildlife crime, (b) record wildlife crime and (c) measure trends in wildlife crime; and whether she has taken steps to address the recommendations in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime report entitled Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit Report: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published on 6 August 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The UK Government does not hold a figure for the economic cost of wildlife crime in this country but in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 2016 report: The rise of environmental crime: A growing threat to natural resources peace, development and security, estimates are made that, globally, poaching and illegal wildlife trade is worth up to £17 billion a year; and natural resources worth as much as USD $91 billion to $258 billion annually are being stolen by criminals, depriving countries of future revenues and development opportunities. This includes illegal logging and fishing.
In terms of recording wildlife crime and measuring trends in wildlife crime, at a UK level the Office for National Statistics publishes police-recorded crime statistics, including statistics on wildlife crimes, where available. However, most wildlife crimes are not categorised as notifiable so there is no obligation for UK police forces to report on them. This makes it more challenging to measure trends in wildlife crime and gauge its true extent. Any decision to make offences notifiable sits with the National Crime Registrar at the Home Office. The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), funded partly by Defra and the Home Office, gathers intelligence from a number of organisations in addition to police forces and Border Force. This intelligence informs a Strategic Assessment of wildlife crime in the UK, which is produced every two years and contributes to the setting of the UK’s wildlife crime priorities.
With regard to the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report (published on 21 December 2021), the Government welcomed this piece of work and the fact it recognised the UK's global leadership in fighting wildlife and forestry crime. We invited the UN to undertake this analysis and we are proud to be the first G7 country to request this assessment. We have carefully considered all the recommendations of the report and they are informing our work to help us build on the positive progress we have already made in tackling wildlife crime. This will include strategic engagement with our partners that have responsibilities where individual recommendations are concerned such as the devolved administrations, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the NWCU. Progress has already been made in response to the report. For example, in 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the NWCU from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25. Additionally, Border Force has increased numbers in its team specialising in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Defra is not under any obligation to formally respond to the UNODC's assessment and has no plans to do so, but we will identify where we can act, including with stakeholders, to strengthen the UK's approach to tackling wildlife and forestry crime.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect critically endangered species in the UK.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Legal protection for our most threatened native species is already provided by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulation 2017.
Defra is committed to taking action to recover our endangered native species. Through the Environment Act 2021, we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity in England : to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; then to reverse declines by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042; and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan published 31st January 2023.
Our new Environmental Land Management schemes will pay for sustainable farming practices, creating and preserving habitat such as woodland, heathland, and species-rich grassland, as well as making landscape-scale environmental changes, all of which support species recovery. Additionally, Natural England recently launched the Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme which will provide targeted funding to reversing the decline of England’s most threatened species.
Asked by: Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are reviewing the case for making the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras a designated point of entry and exit for items affected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has closely considered the case for designating St Pancras as a CITES Point of Entry and Exit (PoE). Given the nature of CITES trade and the demands a PoE would place on the terminal’s resources and facilities, we do not consider it appropriate to designate it at this time. Defra keeps the list of designated PoEs under review and will continue to work closely with Border Force and industry to evaluate and update the PoE list as appropriate.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has taken recent steps to implement the recommendations of the report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime entitled Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit Report: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published on 6 August 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We welcomed the UN Office of Drugs and Crime report (published by Defra on 17 December 2021) and that it recognised the UK's global leadership in fighting wildlife and forestry crime. We invited the UN to undertake this analysis and we are proud to be the first G7 country to request this assessment.
We have carefully considered all the recommendations of the report and they are informing our work to help us build on the positive progress we have already made in tackling wildlife crime. This will include strategic engagement with our partners that have responsibilities where individual recommendations are concerned such as the devolved administrations, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU).
Progress has already been made in response to the report. For example, in 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the NWCU from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three year period of 2022-25. Additionally, Border Force has increased numbers in their team specialising in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Defra is not under any obligation to formally respond to the UNODC's assessment and has no plans to do so, but we will identify where we can act, including with stakeholders, to strengthen the UK's approach to tackling wildlife and forestry crime.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her timeline is for the banning of the (a) extraction and (b) commercial trade of peat.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government proposes to restrict and ultimately ban the sale of peat and peat-containing products used in horticulture. Such a ban would make controls on extraction unnecessary. We propose to ban the retail sale of peat, accounting for around two thirds of peat sold, from 2024 when parliamentary time allows.
At the same time, we will legislate for exemptions for professional growers to allow time for technical barriers to be overcome and peat-free alternatives to be further developed. We are minded to permit such exemptions until 2030, with no restriction on professional use until after 2026.
Between 2027 and 2030, exemptions will be targeted on certain plant types and production methods where peat cannot be readily replaced. We will work with the sector to frame the exact nature of these exemptions based on the latest evidence.
Finally, we propose a conservation exemption, to ensure that peat continues to be available for the safeguarding of vulnerable or endangered plant species where there is no other reliable growing media. This exemption will not be time limited.
We believe this phased approach will protect the production of edible food stuffs, and the production of specialist trees and other ornamental horticultural products, while preventing the unnecessary extraction of peat both in England and abroad and protecting the livelihoods of those working in the horticultural sector.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her planned timeline is for the banning of all sales of horticultural peat.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government proposes to restrict and ultimately ban the sale of peat and peat-containing products used in horticulture. Such a ban would make controls on extraction unnecessary. We propose to ban the retail sale of peat, accounting for around two thirds of peat sold, from 2024 when parliamentary time allows.
At the same time, we will legislate for exemptions for professional growers to allow time for technical barriers to be overcome and peat-free alternatives to be further developed. We are minded to permit such exemptions until 2030, with no restriction on professional use until after 2026.
Between 2027 and 2030, exemptions will be targeted on certain plant types and production methods where peat cannot be readily replaced. We will work with the sector to frame the exact nature of these exemptions based on the latest evidence.
Finally, we propose a conservation exemption, to ensure that peat continues to be available for the safeguarding of vulnerable or endangered plant species where there is no other reliable growing media. This exemption will not be time limited.
We believe this phased approach will protect the production of edible food stuffs, and the production of specialist trees and other ornamental horticultural products, while preventing the unnecessary extraction of peat both in England and abroad and protecting the livelihoods of those working in the horticultural sector.
Asked by: Richard Thomson (Scottish National Party - Gordon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the infrastructure that would be required at the Border Control Post at Cairnryan in relation to the movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain under the proposed Windsor Framework.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Windsor Framework removes any requirement to provide export declarations, or any equivalent information, for businesses moving goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. This assures unfettered access for Northern Ireland's businesses to the UK market on a permanent basis, with controls applied only where strictly necessary to manage our international obligations, such as for movements of endangered species.