Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2024 to Question 18133 on Import Controls, what standards goods will be required to demonstrate they meet via an export health certificate in order to be eligible for import into the UK.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Specific requirements will vary by commodity, with details available on the Gov.uk pages for certification Import goods into the UK: step by step - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The BTOM will operate a sophisticated approach to risk categorisation, with the intensity of controls calibrated to the level of risk presented by each commodity.
For high-risk and medium-risk goods, we will retain health certification and BCP inspection, albeit with frequently lower inspection rates than under the EU model. Documentary-only checks will be performed remotely instead of all regulated goods having to present documents at a BCP.
For low-risk animal products as a matter of routine we will only require electronic pre-notification, which is already in place. Low-risk plant produce (fruit and vegetables with no known specific disease or pest risk associated) will be removed from import health control requirements altogether. There will no longer be any requirements for pre-notification, with enhanced inland monitoring and surveillance in place to ensure it is compliant with the UK's high food safety and standards and to keep track of any issues. We will simplify Export Health Certificates and make health certificates digital wherever possible.
For medium-risk goods, we will extend the well-established concept of trusted trader into the SPS sphere, by working with industry to pilot new trusted trader authorisations for SPS goods.
Asked by: Andrew Lewer (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of (a) vapes, (b) vapes with flavoured e-liquids and (c) vapes with fruit, dessert and sweet flavoured e-liquids at successful tobacco smoking cessation.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Due to the nicotine content and the unknown long-term harms, vaping carries risks to health and lifelong addiction for children. Vaping is, therefore, only recommended for adult smokers who wish to quit smoking. Young people and people who have never smoked, should not vape.
Our youth vaping call for evidence, published in 2023, demonstrated that the flavours are one of the main reasons that vapes appeal to children. However, as set out in the 2022 Nicotine vaping in England review, we also recognize that there is some evidence that non-tobacco flavours can play a positive role in smoking cessation. This is why it is critical we strike the balance between restricting flavours in vapes to reduce their appeal to young people, whilst also ensuring that vapes remain available for adult smokers as a viable smoking cessation tool.
In the upcoming Tobacco and Vapes Bill, we will introduce powers to restrict vape flavours. Subject to Parliamentary approval, the Department will then undertake further analysis and consultation before introducing any specific flavour restrictions. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) is an internal part of the Department, and OHID officials are leading on our smokefree generation and youth vaping work.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve food labelling so that (a) consumers are effectively informed on which products have been produced (i) locally and (ii) in the UK and (b) local products are not undercut by external competition which is not produced to the same standard.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Country of origin information is required for fresh and frozen meat derived from beef cattle, sheep, goat, pigs and poultry, as well as uncut fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, olive oil, wine and some fish products. It is also required for all prepacked food where its omission would be misleading to consumers. In any case, where an indication of origin or provenance is given, either in words or pictures, this must be accurate. Buying food locally and supporting their local food economy is important to many consumers and where any label indicates that a food is produced locally, this must not be misleading to a consumer.
As recently announced by the Secretary of State, we will soon be launching a consultation on clearer food labelling. This will explore how we can better highlight imports that do not meet UK welfare standards. The consultation will also seek evidence and views on how origin information could be improved for consumers.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of reclassifying fresh (a) fruit and (b) root vegetables from the EU as medium risk on retailers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No assessment on impacts will be made as there has been no change to the risk category of fruit and vegetables. A temporary easement has been put in place for fruit and vegetables imported to GB.
Asked by: Tom Hunt (Conservative - Ipswich)
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 potential impact of pausing proposals reclassifying (a) fruits and (b) root vegetables from the EU as medium risk on (i) retailers and (ii) consumers.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is not reclassifying fruit and vegetables. A temporary easement has been put in place for fruit and vegetables imported to GB.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the exemption from immigration rules for seasonal workers in the perishable food industry extends to those in the fish processing sector.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government operates no exemption from Immigration Rules for seasonal workers in the perishable food industry. Within the Immigration Rules, the Government operates the Seasonal Worker route which allows up to 45,000 workers to come to the UK for up to six months to pick both edible and ornamental crops (e.g. fruit and flower picking). The route also enables up to 2,000 poultry to come to the UK in the run up to Christmas. The Seasonal Worker route is specifically designed to support the UK horticulture and poultry sectors – both sectors which typically require higher volumes of labour, for relatively short-term periods of time, in line with seasonal production peaks. The route is not designed to support non-seasonal roles, operating on a year-round basis, such as fish processing.
Asked by: Anthony Mangnall (Conservative - Totnes)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve nutrition education in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government wants to support the health and wellbeing of everyone. The department understands the importance of education in delivering this aim and the department is supporting schools in a number of ways to provide high quality nutrition education for their students.
Nutrition is a discrete strand of the national curriculum for Design and Technology (D&T). This was introduced as part of the 2014 D&T curriculum and is compulsory for key stages 1 to 3. The curriculum aims to teach children how to cook and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. It recognises that cooking is an important life skill that will help children to feed themselves and others healthy and affordable food.
A food preparation and nutrition GCSE was introduced in September 2016. It requires pupils to understand and apply the principles of food science, nutrition and healthy eating when preparing and cooking food.
The importance of nutrition is also included in the science curriculum for both primary and secondary schools. Nutrition through healthy eating is covered through topics relating to nutrition and digestion, which cover the content of a healthy diet and the impact of diet on how the body functions.
The statutory guidance for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education includes content on the importance of daily exercise, good nutrition and the risks associated with an inactive lifestyle, including obesity.
Throughout the guidance, there is an emphasis on empowering young people to make choices and adopt lifestyles that will increase their chance of living happy and healthy lives to support the agenda on tackling obesity. To support teachers to deliver the healthy eating topic, the department has developed a teacher training module which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health#train-teachers-on-relationships-sex-and-health-education.
The government also supports the provision of nutritious food in schools, which ensures pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and can concentrate and learn.
The standards for school food are set out in the Requirements for School Food Regulations 2014. The School Food Standards are part of the government’s drive to help children adopt healthy eating habits from a young age. The department provides a number of resources for schools, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools.
The School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme also provides over 2.2 million children in reception and key stage 1 with a portion of fresh fruit or vegetables each day at school. Schools are encouraged to use it as an opportunity to educate children and to assist a healthy, balanced diet.
The Oak National Academy will be providing a fully resourced curriculum for key stages 1 to 3 for food and nutrition. This will align with the national curriculum and Oak’s guiding principles, which focus on the knowledge and skills specific to food and nutrition.
Oak have assured the department that pupils will be able to cook more than six savoury dishes by the end of key stage three by following their food curriculum.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential relationship between junk food advertising and trends in the levels of junk food consumption by children.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government advice on a healthy, balanced diet is encapsulated in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide. The Department promotes the Eatwell Guide principles through platforms such as the National Health Service website and social marketing campaigns including Healthier Families and Better Health. More information on the marketing campaigns is available at the following links:
https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/
We have taken action to empower people to make healthier food choices, which includes implementing regulations in 2022 on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses including restaurants, cafes and takeaways and restricting the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online. We are committed to bringing forward further measures by 2025, restricting adverts on television for less healthy foods and drinks before the 9pm watershed, as well as paid-for adverts online and restricting volume price promotions of less healthy foods such as buy-one-get-one-free offers.
Measures to restrict advertising are underpinned by evidence which suggests that exposure to high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) advertising can affect what and when children eat, shaping children’s food preferences from a young age. Over time, excess consumption can lead to children becoming overweight or obese, all of which puts their future health at risk. This evidence is referenced in the recent consultation from December 2022, Introducing further advertising restrictions on TV and online for products high in fat, salt or sugar: consultation on secondary legislation. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course. More information on the consultation is available at the following link:
Through our Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those who need it the most. Healthy Start, Nursery Milk and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme together help more than three million children. Over £200 million is devoted to the Healthy Food Schemes each year to reflect this commitment.
The School Food Standards are set in legislation and require school caterers to serve healthy and nutritious food and drinks to ensure children get the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day. The standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted to a minimum, and those which must not be provided. HFSS foods are restricted.
Education around healthy eating is also covered through several curriculum subjects including design and technology, science and health education. The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that by the end of primary school, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet; the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals; the characteristics of a poor diet; and risks associated with unhealthy eating.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce the consumption of junk food among children.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government advice on a healthy, balanced diet is encapsulated in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide. The Department promotes the Eatwell Guide principles through platforms such as the National Health Service website and social marketing campaigns including Healthier Families and Better Health. More information on the marketing campaigns is available at the following links:
https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/
We have taken action to empower people to make healthier food choices, which includes implementing regulations in 2022 on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses including restaurants, cafes and takeaways and restricting the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online. We are committed to bringing forward further measures by 2025, restricting adverts on television for less healthy foods and drinks before the 9pm watershed, as well as paid-for adverts online and restricting volume price promotions of less healthy foods such as buy-one-get-one-free offers.
Measures to restrict advertising are underpinned by evidence which suggests that exposure to high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) advertising can affect what and when children eat, shaping children’s food preferences from a young age. Over time, excess consumption can lead to children becoming overweight or obese, all of which puts their future health at risk. This evidence is referenced in the recent consultation from December 2022, Introducing further advertising restrictions on TV and online for products high in fat, salt or sugar: consultation on secondary legislation. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course. More information on the consultation is available at the following link:
Through our Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those who need it the most. Healthy Start, Nursery Milk and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme together help more than three million children. Over £200 million is devoted to the Healthy Food Schemes each year to reflect this commitment.
The School Food Standards are set in legislation and require school caterers to serve healthy and nutritious food and drinks to ensure children get the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day. The standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted to a minimum, and those which must not be provided. HFSS foods are restricted.
Education around healthy eating is also covered through several curriculum subjects including design and technology, science and health education. The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that by the end of primary school, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet; the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals; the characteristics of a poor diet; and risks associated with unhealthy eating.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help encourage the consumption of healthy foods by children.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government advice on a healthy, balanced diet is encapsulated in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide. The Department promotes the Eatwell Guide principles through platforms such as the National Health Service website and social marketing campaigns including Healthier Families and Better Health. More information on the marketing campaigns is available at the following links:
https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/
We have taken action to empower people to make healthier food choices, which includes implementing regulations in 2022 on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses including restaurants, cafes and takeaways and restricting the placement of less healthy products in key selling locations in store and online. We are committed to bringing forward further measures by 2025, restricting adverts on television for less healthy foods and drinks before the 9pm watershed, as well as paid-for adverts online and restricting volume price promotions of less healthy foods such as buy-one-get-one-free offers.
Measures to restrict advertising are underpinned by evidence which suggests that exposure to high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) advertising can affect what and when children eat, shaping children’s food preferences from a young age. Over time, excess consumption can lead to children becoming overweight or obese, all of which puts their future health at risk. This evidence is referenced in the recent consultation from December 2022, Introducing further advertising restrictions on TV and online for products high in fat, salt or sugar: consultation on secondary legislation. We will publish the response to the consultation in due course. More information on the consultation is available at the following link:
Through our Healthy Food Schemes, the Government provides a nutritional safety net to those who need it the most. Healthy Start, Nursery Milk and the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme together help more than three million children. Over £200 million is devoted to the Healthy Food Schemes each year to reflect this commitment.
The School Food Standards are set in legislation and require school caterers to serve healthy and nutritious food and drinks to ensure children get the energy and nutrition they need throughout the school day. The standards define the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted to a minimum, and those which must not be provided. HFSS foods are restricted.
Education around healthy eating is also covered through several curriculum subjects including design and technology, science and health education. The relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance states that by the end of primary school, pupils should know what constitutes a healthy diet; the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals; the characteristics of a poor diet; and risks associated with unhealthy eating.