Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
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 end the use of LD50 testing on animals.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK supports work to develop New Approach Methodologies which can provide information on chemical hazards and risk assessment without the use of animals.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) is the UK regulatory authority for veterinary medicines. The VMD assesses applications submitted by the veterinary pharmaceutical industry in line with national and international regulations and guidance to ensure safe and effective veterinary medicines of good quality are marketed. These requirements may therefore necessitate animal testing either to develop and register new veterinary medicines or for routine product quality control, to ensure the continued quality, safety and efficacy batch to batch. Non-animal tests are not always available. The VMD is committed to phasing out the use of animals for testing purposes where possible, in accordance with the principles of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement). Furthermore, the UK is a signatory to the European Pharmacopoeia (which sets minimum quality standards of medicines) and the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes. This commitment to the 3Rs is also enshrined in the UK’s Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 under which scientific procedures in animals are regulated.
For veterinary medicines significant progress in non-animal testing has been made in recent years, including the possibility of replacing animals by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and the relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines. Many Marketing Authorisation Holders for these specific medicines have already, and more recently, introduced these changes to their authorised medicines, which will reduce the number of animals used. Implementation of new tests for existing products can be a complicated process, requiring extensive validation and it is not always possible to replace all of the existing animal tests with in vitro non-animal replacements for each existing authorised product. The relevant UK Competent Authority for regulation of these medicines will continue to monitor the use of animals in these tests and to recommend use of non-animal tests where possible.
The Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation (the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs, Andrew Griffith) recently announced that the Government will publish a plan to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of technologies and methods to reduce reliance on the use of animals in science, which will be published in the summer. He also requested that we double our investment in research to achieve these approaches next year to £20 million across the system in 2024/25.
LD50 testing is not required for preclinical development of novel medicines. Quality control testing of some authorised medicines relies on LD50 testing to ensure each batch meets expected quality standards. UK regulators follow the principles of the 3Rs. Significant progress has been made on validating alternative methods which do not use animals, including the possibility of replacing mice by in vitro suitable cell cultures in LD50-type testing methods, and the relevant regulatory quality standards and testing requirements have been revised accordingly for these specific medicines.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled The waste prevention programme for England: Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste, updated on 10 August 2023, what progress he has made on developing a pilot Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for textiles; what his planned timetable is for publication of that pilot scheme; and what progress he has made on an impact assessment for non-domestic premises to support the textiles waste hierarchy.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The EPR sandbox led by UKFT, and funded by UK Government is using data to explore a system that incentivises circular economy principles across the textiles supply chain. We look forward to the results of this project later this year.
Since publication of Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste we have been engaging with stakeholders across the supply chain to develop the proposals for the consultation and build the evidence base for the impact assessment. The consultation is our priority, but we are open to other suggestions from the industry about what the most effective interventions could be, including how a potential Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for textiles could work.
We are collaborating with our delivery partner the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) on the Textiles Waste Hierarchy. It will be a comprehensive guide for organisations that will be impacted by the proposals and those who handle used textiles. By including examples of good practice and case studies we hope, once developed, it will help organisations and citizens navigate changes that will reduce textiles waste across the supply chain.
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, what proportion of consignments of (a) products of animal origin and (b) plant products that were liable for the common user charge had the correct paperwork in place upon their arrival in the UK between 30 April and 5 May 2024.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our checks are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk. It would be inappropriate for us to set out operational details like the exact inspection details from 30 April. Traders should continue to follow the published guidance which sets out BTOM inspection rates.
DEFRA will gradually increase changes in controlled stages to balance biosecurity risk and maintain trade flows whilst minimising disruption at the border.
This will allow the level of goods inspected at the border to be operationally manageable over the introductory stages.
Asked by: Chris Grayling (Conservative - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to bring forward secondary legislation under the Environment Act 2021 on forest risk commodities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As stated by the Secretary of State at Oral questions on 9 May 2024, we hope to table the legislation later this month.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Fur market in Great Britain, published in May 2021, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on the publication of the results of that consultation.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has regular discussions with the Devolved Administrations about a range of animal welfare topics. This includes our work to build the evidence base on the fur sector.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
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 have discussions with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on minimising the impact of of new energy projects on local (a) environments, (b) wildlife and (c) rural livelihoods.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
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, what the average time was between a consignment entering Sevington Border Control Post and leaving following (a) a physical inspection and (b) any other inspection between 30 April and 5 May 2024.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Monitoring and enforcing the border controls introduced under the BTOM is undertaken collaboratively on a site by site basis at each point of entry between Defra, Port Health Authorities (part of local authorities), the Animal and Plant Health Agency, Border Force and HMRC, and the Port Operators.
The department considers that this information is operationally - and in the case of Port Operators commercially - sensitive and should be withheld.
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, how many consignments entering the UK under the Border Target Operating Model have (a) had their documentation checked when entering the UK and (b) not had the correct documentation since 1 February 2024.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our checks are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk. It would be inappropriate for us to set out operational details like the exact inspection details from 30 April. Traders should continue to follow the published guidance which sets out BTOM inspection rates.
DEFRA will gradually increase changes in controlled stages to balance biosecurity risk and maintain trade flows whilst minimising disruption at the border.
This will allow the level of goods inspected at the border to be operationally manageable over the introductory stages.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department made an impact assessment before ending the Air Quality Grant Scheme.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I had concerns that the Local Air Quality Scheme would not deliver the most positive outcomes for local air quality at this particular time and so I have asked Defra officials to consider redesigning the Scheme in the future, to be able to better deliver those positive outcomes and therefore enhanced value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions officials in his Department (a) have had and (b) plan to have with their counterparts in Northern Ireland on equine (i) sales and (ii) transport between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government engages regularly with Northern Ireland stakeholders and would welcome ongoing engagement with those transporting equines between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Indeed, the Northern Ireland Office’s Minister of State, Steve Baker MP, recently met with the Equine and Rare Breeds Society alongside the honourable member during a visit to Northern Ireland to discuss this issue.
As said in PQ 16046, the Movement Assistance Scheme is available to reimburse costs (including veterinary checks) for horses moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and horses moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain have unfettered access.