Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 13 May (HL6754), when they intend to accede to the IMO Cape Town Agreement for the Safety of Fishing Vessels and thereby achieve Principle 8 of the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency.

Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)

I am pleased to confirm that the United Kingdom formally acceded to the IMO Cape Town Agreement for the Safety of Fishing Vessels on 14 May 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 29 January (HL13472), what assessment they have made of the growth potential for the probiotics sector if such products were permitted to be labelled and marketed as probiotics, rather than alternative descriptors such as gut health.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Decisions are made on the basis of robust scientific evidence. The Department has not assessed the growth potential of the probiotics sector if products containing live bacteria were permitted to be labelled and marketed as probiotics.

Industry can apply to have nutrition and health claims authorised through an established process which is set out in the Department’s published guidance, available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nutrition-and-health-claims-guidance-to-compliance-with-regulation-ec-1924-2006-on-nutrition-and-health-claims-made-on-foods/nutrition-and-health-claims-guidance-to-compliance-with-regulation-ec-19242006

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

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 1 August 2025 (HL9721), what has been the outcome of the research they commissioned from Resource Futures on the number of vessels reaching end-of-life and the policy options to reduce the issue of marine litter from abandoned vessels; and what action they intend to take in response to this research.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government welcomes the research from Resource Futures and recognises the importance of reducing marine litter from abandoned vessels.

Drawing on this research, the UK has led work with other countries in the North East Atlantic as part of the OSPAR Convention to develop best practice guidance on the prevention, reporting, and management of end-of-life recreational vessels. This will now be discussed by OSPAR contracting parties and, if it is agreed, will be published this summer and made available for use by practitioners and policymakers globally.

The Government will consider next steps for how this guidance is implemented nationally.

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