Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) port and harbour authorities, (2) devolved administrations, and (3) producers, on ensuring there are free disposal facilities for end-of-life fishing equipment waste in every UK port and harbour.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been assessed, including through a study commissioned by Defra and the devolved governments, available here, which indicated EPR could be a complex and costly intervention.
Defra officials have previously engaged industry stakeholders and work closely with devolved governments, with discussions covering end-of-life fishing gear management in ports and harbours, as well as wider marine litter issues in line with the Joint Fisheries Statement.
The UK is committed to working with international partners to agree a new global treaty to end plastic pollution, including provisions addressing fishing and aquaculture gear across its full lifecycle.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of introducing an extended producer responsibility scheme for fishing equipment.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been assessed, including through a study commissioned by Defra and the devolved governments, available here, which indicated EPR could be a complex and costly intervention.
Defra officials have previously engaged industry stakeholders and work closely with devolved governments, with discussions covering end-of-life fishing gear management in ports and harbours, as well as wider marine litter issues in line with the Joint Fisheries Statement.
The UK is committed to working with international partners to agree a new global treaty to end plastic pollution, including provisions addressing fishing and aquaculture gear across its full lifecycle.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to consolidate the legislation governing the Canals and Rivers Trust.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Consolidation of the legislation governing the Canal and River Trust is one of the 36 recommendations made by the independent Commission that reviewed the Trust’s boat licensing regime. The Trust accepted all the recommendations and recently announced plans for their phased implementation, including regular engagement and consultation with the boating communities. It will be for the Trust to bring forward proposals for legislative consolidation, and the Government stands ready to assist in that process as appropriate. Defra engages regularly with the Trust on a range of issues.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risk of imported seafood into the United Kingdom sourced from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and whether any risk has changed over the last ten years.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to preventing seafood caught from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering the UK supply chain. Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Port Health Authorities to manage this risk. For example, the UK maintains a strict ban on seafood imports from countries that have been identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing as well as seafood caught by vessels included in the UK’s IUU vessel list identified as having engaged in IUU fishing. Controls are also in place to prevent foreign vessels accessing UK ports if suspected of engaging in IUU fishing. Furthermore, all wild-caught fish imported into the UK must be accompanied by validated catch certificates to ensure legality and traceability, and we will be updating the information required on catch certificates later next year. These changes will improve the robustness of traceability measures in place and will ensure that UK exporters can continue to re-export seafood originating from other countries to the EU. The MMO has recently launched a campaign called ‘Fish, Trace, Ship’ to highlight to industry the expected changes.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will update the catch certificate for seafood imports to mirror changes being made by the EU to its catch certificate scheme.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to preventing seafood caught from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering the UK supply chain. Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Port Health Authorities to manage this risk. For example, the UK maintains a strict ban on seafood imports from countries that have been identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing as well as seafood caught by vessels included in the UK’s IUU vessel list identified as having engaged in IUU fishing. Controls are also in place to prevent foreign vessels accessing UK ports if suspected of engaging in IUU fishing. Furthermore, all wild-caught fish imported into the UK must be accompanied by validated catch certificates to ensure legality and traceability, and we will be updating the information required on catch certificates later next year. These changes will improve the robustness of traceability measures in place and will ensure that UK exporters can continue to re-export seafood originating from other countries to the EU. The MMO has recently launched a campaign called ‘Fish, Trace, Ship’ to highlight to industry the expected changes.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to increase scrutiny of seafood imports that are of high risk of coming from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to preventing seafood caught from illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing from entering the UK supply chain. Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Port Health Authorities to manage this risk. For example, the UK maintains a strict ban on seafood imports from countries that have been identified as non-cooperative in tackling IUU fishing as well as seafood caught by vessels included in the UK’s IUU vessel list identified as having engaged in IUU fishing. Controls are also in place to prevent foreign vessels accessing UK ports if suspected of engaging in IUU fishing. Furthermore, all wild-caught fish imported into the UK must be accompanied by validated catch certificates to ensure legality and traceability, and we will be updating the information required on catch certificates later next year. These changes will improve the robustness of traceability measures in place and will ensure that UK exporters can continue to re-export seafood originating from other countries to the EU. The MMO has recently launched a campaign called ‘Fish, Trace, Ship’ to highlight to industry the expected changes.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what duties the Canal and River Trust has with regard to people whose boat is their permanent and only home.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Canal and River Trust is an independent charity, and the Government does not have a role in its management or operational decisions. The Trust’s charitable objects relate to the preservation of our inland waterways for public benefit, particularly for navigation, walking, and other forms of recreation, rather than the provision of permanent accommodation for private individuals, and the Trust’s boat licensing regime has no requirement to declare what a boat is used for or how many people are occupying it.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat to the sugar beet crop from virus-transmitting aphids; and in what circumstances they would grant emergency authorisation for the use of the banned neonicotinoid pesticides.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has been clear that we will change existing policies to ban the use of neonicotinoid pesticides that threaten bees and other vital pollinators. Decisions on emergency authorisation applications must be taken in line with legal requirements. In making these decisions, Ministers will take full account of the available evidence and expert advice.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether sugar beet growers are able to comply with the conditions of emergency use of neonicotinoids having regard to the limited acreage of individual farms, in particular, with reference to the statement, that (1) "Only a specific list of crops, none of which flower before harvest, are permitted to be planted in the same field as treated sugar beet within 32 months", and (2) "no further use of thiamethoxam seed treatments on the same field within 46 months".
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Farmers are free to decide whether they wish to grow sugar beet in a given year. Those farmers who opted to grow sugar beet with Cruiser SB when emergency authorisations have been granted in the past will have considered how to accommodate the restrictions on succeeding crops in their crop rotation plans. The restrictions were considered to be consistent with typical arable crop rotation patterns.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of compliance by sugar beet growers with the restrictions on the re-use of thiamethoxam within a period of 46 months on the same field.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All pesticide use in the UK is subject to the Health and Safety Executive’s overarching programme of enforcement and compliance. This includes extensive monitoring and intelligence-led enforcement activities to ensure that the supply and use of pesticides complies with legal requirements.
All UK sugar beet is grown under commercial contracting arrangements which provide a basis for the stewardship programme which has been part of the conditions attached to emergency authorisations for the thiamethoxam product Cruiser SB use granted in the past. As part of this stewardship programme, all growers are advised of the requirements for use of seeds treated with Cruiser SB.