Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the results of the call for evidence to the consultation on the fur market in Great Britain, which opened on 31 May 2021.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers are reviewing policies, which will be announced in due course, including the consultation on the Fur Market in Great Britain. Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare Committee on what constitutes responsible sourcing of fur. The report that they produce will support our understanding of the fur industry and help inform our next steps.
This Labour Government will introduce the most ambitious programme for animal welfare in a generation.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the decision by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs to amend retained Council Regulation 1/2005, which prohibits lifting chickens by the legs in such a way as to cause them unnecessary pain or suffering, what legislative measures they intend to advance to improve the welfare of layer hens and broiler chickens.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are carefully considering the recommendations in the Animal Welfare Committee’s report on the welfare implications of carrying methods for poultry to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) assess case for the phasing-out of cages for layer hens, and (2) launch a consultation on phasing out such cages.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.
The use of enriched ‘colony’ cages for laying hens is an issue we will want to fully consider in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend (1) to respond to the consultation by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on fairer food labelling that closed on 7 May, and (2) to bring forward the proposals to improve transparency in method-of-production welfare labelling for pork, chicken and eggs.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ministers are carefully considering all responses provided to a public consultation on fairer food labelling before deciding on next steps.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 27 April 2022 (HL7869), when they expect to receive the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We expect to receive the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing by the end of March this year.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to introduce mandatory pre-stun slaughter for farmed fish in line with the protection afforded to terrestrial farmed animals.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations.
Following publication of the Post Implementation Review of the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 in January 2021, and as part of the Action Plan on Animal Welfare, we are currently considering a number of improvements that could be made to the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing.
We have also asked the Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) to update its 2014 Opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing and look forward to receiving AWC’s updated advice later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Gale (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to legislate for a ban on the sale of fur after the end of the transition period with the EU on 1 January 2021.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Government shares the British public’s high regard for animal welfare. There are restrictions on some skin and fur products which may never be legally imported into the UK. These include fur from cats and dogs and seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Fur farming has been banned in England and Wales since 2000 (2002 in Scotland and Northern Ireland).
In addition, we do not allow imports of fur from wild animals caught using methods which are non-compliant with international humane trapping standards. Where fur is from an endangered species protected through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), its import or trade will be subject to CITES controls.
During the transition period it is not possible to introduce restrictions relating to the fur trade. Once our future relationship with the EU has been established there will be an opportunity for the Government to consider further the steps it could take in relation to fur sales.