Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on developing a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the European Union.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following their meeting in Brussels on 2 October, the President of the European Commission and the Prime Minister have agreed to strengthen the relationship between the EU and UK, putting it on a more solid, stable footing. We have already said we will seek to negotiate a UK-EU veterinary/SPS agreement to help boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers in the UK and the EU. The UK and EU are like-minded partners with similarly high standards. We recognise that delivering new agreements will take time, but we are ambitious, have clear priorities and want to move forward at pace.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to review the inflationary impact of the Border Target Operating Model.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra continues to monitor and review the impacts of new controls introduced under the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM). We will work closely with industry, trade partners and enforcement agencies to minimise costs to trade and disruption, while continuing to protect our biosecurity.
The Government’s modelling of the inflationary impact of the BTOM uses a peer-reviewed econometric model, including the impacts of non-tariff measures related to checks such as the cost of Export Health Certificates and port fees, and upstream impacts such as administrative processing time, training, certificates of origin and security deposits or guarantees when moving agricultural goods under licence.
Analysis has indicated the BTOM policies would lead to an approximate increase in consumer food price inflation of less than 0.2 percentage points over a three-year period
An outbreak of a major disease could have a much more significant impact. The 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease cost £12.8 billion in 2022 prices, £4.8 billion of which was cost to Government and £8 billion cost to the private sector.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to introduce forest risk due diligence regulations under Schedule 17 to the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the need to take action to ensure that UK consumption of forest risk commodities is not driving deforestation, and we will set out our approach to addressing this in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - 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 UK's state of readiness for the implementation of (1) safety and security declarations for imports, (2) import checks on medium-risk fruits and vegetables, and (3) checks on EU goods arriving from the Republic of Ireland to west coast ports, in relation to the Border Target Operating Model.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - 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 number of local food partnerships; and what steps they are taking to support their development.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food Security is national security which is relevant to all five Government Missions and central to our primary Mission to grow the economy. Boosting Britain’s food security is one of the core priorities of this Government.
We need a resilient and healthy food system that works with nature and supports British Farmers. We will do this by listening to farmers and others with a stake in our food system, countryside, and nature.
The Government recognises the valuable role Local Food Partnerships can play in this regard and welcomes their knowledge and expertise as we develop our plans to support our farmers and food and drink businesses, boost food security, and deliver growth.
The Government will explore how to build on existing place-based initiatives and how to create the best environment for sustainable growth, working in partnership with local leaders.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Local Food Partnerships and the impact that they can have on young people’s access to food in their community.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food Security is national security which is relevant to all five Government Missions and central to our primary Mission to grow the economy. Boosting Britain’s food security is one of the core priorities of this Government.
We need a resilient and healthy food system, that works with nature and supports British Farmers. We will do this by listening to farmers and others with a stake in our food system, countryside, and nature.
The Government will be considering the role of place-based initiatives, including Local Food Partnerships, as we develop our plans to support our farmers and food and drink businesses, boost food security, invest in rural communities, deliver growth, manage waste more effectively across the supply chain, improve resilience to climate change and tackle biodiversity loss.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of barriers to trade presented by the "Not for EU" labelling scheme including whether the labelling requirements make UK products appear inferior to consumers.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Not for EU’ labelling is a requirement of the Windsor Framework and does not represent a change in standards of production and quality. Defra works closely with the agri-food sector to support them with labelling requirements and to ensure the continued supply of goods into Northern Ireland. The previous Government consulted on the proposal to extend the 'Not for EU' labelling requirement across Great Britain. This Government is carefully considering the evidence provided and no legislation to give effect to these arrangements has yet been taken forward.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to implement the enhanced physical checks set out in the Border Target Operating Model and if so, when they plan to do so.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The BTOM sets outs out a risk-based, proportionate regime of controls which assesses the inherent biosecurity or public health risk presented by an import, together with the prevalence of relevant pests and diseases and our confidence in the exporting country’s production standards and health controls.
This assessment allows us to set controls at the most appropriate level and focus on the areas of highest risk to the UK. The goods posing the highest biosecurity risk are being prioritised as we build up to full check rates and high levels of compliance.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what priority they will give to pursuing a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Veterinary Agreement; and when they expect any such negotiations with the European Union to commence.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra in conjunction with the Department for Business and Trade will work to reset the relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to trade, while recognising that there will be no return to the single market or customs union.
We will tackle trade barriers through seeking to negotiate a veterinary / Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement with the European Union to prevent unnecessary border checks and help tackle the cost of food.
I will update this House in due course on the next steps.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (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 Douglas-Miller on 12 March (HL2920), whether they will forecast the impact of different charges at different border control posts on traffic volumes, queues and emissions once the commercial ports have set their own fees.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
It is up to individual commercial ports to determine their own charging structure and rates. This will allow ports to ensure costs cover their expenses while remaining viable for both industry and businesses.
Border Control Posts are designed to handle high volumes of imported sanitary and phytosanitary goods and offer extended opening hours with staff working shifts on site to carry out reliable checks which minimise friction on traffic flow.
The Government has worked with port and airport operators, traders, Port Health Authorities and the Animal and Plant Health Agency to make sure we have the right infrastructure, systems and resources in place.