Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - 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 impact of the proposed UK–EU reset and reduction of barriers to trade on continuing the ban on exports of livestock for slaughter and fattening.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and regulatory barriers for British producers and retailers. These negotiations are ongoing, and the Government will not be providing a running commentary. Details of the Agreement are subject to negotiation, but the Government has been clear about the importance of being able to set high animal welfare standards.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to (1) keep, (2) amend, or (3) repeal the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act 2024 as part of the proposed UK–EU reset and reduction of trade barriers.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is currently negotiating a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement to make agrifood trade with our biggest market cheaper and easier, cutting costs and regulatory barriers for British producers and retailers. These negotiations are ongoing, and the Government will not be providing a running commentary. Details of the Agreement are subject to negotiation, but the Government has been clear about the importance of being able to set high animal welfare standards.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report by Kent Action Against Live Export (KAALE) sent to his Department by that organisation on 25 October 2020 and by the hon. Member for South Thanet on 20 October 2020; and what steps he plans to take in response to the findings of that report.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The report produced by Kent Action Against Live Exports (KAALE) is currently being reviewed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on behalf of Defra. Where any non-compliance set out in the report is confirmed, APHA will take appropriate regulatory or enforcement action.
The Government is committed to the welfare of all animals and to making further improvements to animal welfare in transport. We fully intend to take advantage of our departure from the European Union to improve animal welfare and to ensure the highest standards. We have a commitment to end excessively long journeys for slaughter and fattening and we intend to consult on how we deliver on that manifesto commitment before the end of this year.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
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 make an assessment of whether all live animals for export loaded onto livestock transporters at Ramsgate Port have received full inspections by adequately accredited veterinary officers; and if he will publish that assessment.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Government accredited Official Veterinarians ensure that every animal for which export certification is requested is fit to travel and has been rested, fed and watered.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) undertakes supervised loadings in all bar exceptional circumstances at departure premises where animals are being exported for further fattening or slaughter. In addition, welfare checks are conducted on all vehicles on arrival at Ramsgate. These checks range from ensuring all watering and ventilation systems are fully functional, to an inspection of the animals on board the vehicle.
APHA inspectors are present at every sailing from Ramsgate involving the export of live animals destined for slaughter. Where breaches in the legislation are identified APHA can, and does, take regulatory action to ensure compliance, protect the welfare of the animals and to achieve ongoing compliance.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether under the terms of the 6 July 2018 statement of the Government and its reference to a common rulebook the UK will be able to ban live animal exports for slaughter from January 2021 without there being consequences for trade.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government’s proposal for a common rulebook on goods only relates to those technical and product safety rules necessary to provide for a frictionless border. The proposal does not extend to wider single market legislation nor animal welfare and would not fetter our abilities to restrict or ban live animal exports.
The White Paper published on 12 July 2018 explains: “By being outside the CAP, and having a common rulebook that only applies to rules that must be checked at the border, the UK would be able to have control over new future subsidy arrangements, control over market surveillance of domestic policy arrangements, an ability to change tariffs and quotas in the future, and the freedom to apply higher animal welfare standards that would not have a bearing on the functioning of the free trade area for goods – such as welfare in transport and the treatment of live animal exports.”
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to maintain the discard ban on fish after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government remains fully committed to ending the wasteful practice of discarding after the UK leaves the EU and will continue to work with the industry to address this issue.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on banning the use of electric pulse fishing in UK waters after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
The original ban on fishing methods using electric current in EU legislation was followed by a specific derogation to permit electric pulse beam trawl fishing under certain conditions. Those arrangements are currently under consideration.
We will continue to consider all the scientific evidence to inform our negotiations on the EU approach and to develop the UK’s future fisheries regime. The government does have concerns about some of the impacts of pulse trawling.
Whatever the outcome on pulse fishing agreed in EU legislation, once we leave the EU we will decide the terms of access to UK waters. That will give us the ability to ban certain approaches where the latest scientific evidence indicates that is necessary.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
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 has made an assessment on the benefits for Great Britain and Northern Ireland's coastal communities of the marine resources in the UK's Exclusive Economic Zone being used solely for the benefit of the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
On leaving the EU, the UK will become an independent coastal state with responsibility for controlling and managing our Exclusive Economic Zone. This will provide an opportunity to negotiate new agreements on access and quota arrangements which will benefit our coastal communities. We are undertaking ongoing analysis on fish stocks in our waters.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the entirety of the Fisheries acquis will be transferred into domestic legislation in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill.
Answered by George Eustice
The purpose of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is to provide stability and certainty so that wherever practical, the same laws and rules will apply immediately before and immediately after our departure. On that basis, most of the fisheries acquis will be transferred into domestic legislation. The Queen’s Speech, however, set out the Government’s plans for a fisheries bill for the UK to control access to its waters and set fishing opportunities when we leave the EU and the Common Fisheries Policy. Provisions in the Fisheries Bill would supersede the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much and what proportion of England and Wales fishing quotas are accounted for by Cornelis Vrolijk.
Answered by George Eustice
The Cornelis Vrolijk holds 457,166 Fixed Quota Allocation units. These units were equivalent to 38,900 tonnes of fishing quota in 2016. This amount was 25% of the total quota for England and Wales, or 7% of the UK quota in 2016.