Agriculture: Schmallenberg Virus

Debate between Duke of Montrose and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Wednesday 7th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

I am most happy to do so. I welcomed this Question because I was aware that this matter must be of concern to a number of Peers. This is an opportunity to inform the House on the subject, and I give the assurance that a “Dear colleague” letter goes to all interested Peers on this matter.

[The Duke of Montrose]

I declare an interest as president of the National Sheep Association. Will all the reported cases be required to have laboratory confirmation of the disease? Are the laboratories able to cope with that, and does the Government’s scenario predict a seasonal peak in the next few months?

Agriculture: Animal Feed

Debate between Duke of Montrose and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Tuesday 6th December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

Yes. My noble friend Lady Byford rightly emphasised the need for caution and referred to the NFU position on the issue, which was similarly cautious. I remind noble Lords that we need to take consumers with us on these issues. We know how difficult that can be to ensure that consumers are totally reassured on issues of this nature.

[The Duke of Montrose]

My Lords, my noble friend mentioned the fact that the EU is reviewing this attitude to processed animal protein. It is generally accepted that meat and bone meal from dedicated poultry slaughterhouses could be perfectly safely fed to pigs. Does he have any indication when the EU will make a decision on this point? Otherwise, will it be included in the review that is due to be brought out in May 2012, which Defra is currently conducting?

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

Indeed, this is exactly the sort of issue on which we want to have proper scientific evidence before we take our own position within Europe. I hope that I can reassure my noble friend on that very point.

As my noble friend Lady Byford said, we know in this country that bodies such as the Food Standards Agency have already made comments on the European proposal, which lies at the heart of why this debate has become more topical. The UK Government, working with the devolved Administrations, are currently considering this proposal. In reaching a negotiating position, we will need to take account of the science, the control tools available, the likely market demand, and consumer views. Existing legislation does not necessarily condemn PAP to waste, and our assessment shows that most PAP produced in the UK goes into the pet food market. I have a very useful schedule of statistics here, which I will make available to all noble Lords who have shown an interest in this topic by being in the Chamber this evening. I will make sure that we make those figures available, because they are very interesting. They show, for example, that within the EU 98 per cent of poultry PAP is used in pet food. The figures are quite striking and should inform our debate.

I understand my noble friend Lady Byford’s point about GM. It is a matter to which we are alerted. I will not, however, describe it as being in the “too difficult” drawer. It is of course a complex issue, but to put it in a drawer and suggest that it is shut away for ever would be to misdescribe Defra’s view of it. We are supporting scientific work because we want to understand more what potential and opportunities may exist through the use of this technology as long as science lies at the bottom of it all.

To sum up, we are funding a review of the available evidence on the subject of today’s debate and expect the results in May next year. This is part of our commitment to tackling the problem of food waste: reducing it where we can and dealing in the most sustainable fashion with what does arise. I hope that the results of this research will help us in this aim but we must recognise the need for caution here and prioritise the need to protect public and animal health. This has been a good debate and there has been a strong consensus that reducing the amount of food waste we produce should be a major aim of us all.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme (Nitrous Oxide) Regulations 2011

Debate between Duke of Montrose and Lord Taylor of Holbeach

Tuesday 17th May 2011 Grand Committee

[The Duke of Montrose]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend and the Government on bringing in the regulation before it is compulsory—really at the earliest opportunity—to limit nitrogen oxide production in the production of nitric acid. I must declare an interest as someone with an interest in agriculture, because it will be very helpful to agriculture for this assistance to be given to the fertiliser industry.

Following the same lines as my noble friend Lady Parminter, I do not know whether there is scope in the course of the Minister’s reply to consider the question that anthropogenic NO₂ emissions are doubling the amount expected from natural microbial action. In the whole agricultural scene, emissions of that gas are serious. One would like to know whether the Government are pursuing suitable protocols to determine emission levels of nitrogen dioxide and what can be done to limit them.

[Lord Taylor of Holbeach]

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have participated in this useful and productive debate—in particular, the noble Baroness, Lady Smith of Basildon, for advising me in advance of what she was particularly interested in. I am happy to be able to address those issues.

What has been very satisfying has been the support that the measure has and the acknowledgement that this is the right way in which the Government and industry can work together for the benefit of the United Kingdom economy in general and United Kingdom investment.

The noble Baroness asked about the monitoring system. The installations covered by EU ETS are required to monitor and report emissions. At the end of each year, they are required to surrender allowances to account for their installations’ actual emissions. The annual emissions figure must be approved by an independent third-party verifier. That operates not just in this area but across the EU ETS scheme. That is part of GrowHow’s existing commitment in its carbon reduction programme.

The noble Baroness also asked about the consultation process. We used the shorter consultation process. As there was a single manufacturer involved, we felt that it was unnecessary to have a protracted consultation period. In fact, there were three other consultees: Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power and the Chemical Industries Association. All were generally supportive of the N₂O opt-in. Concerns were raised by the Chemical Industries Association about the proposal, included in the consultation, to place a legal requirement on nitric acid producers to return the allowance if they reduced levels of nitric acid production—the partial closure rule—but the Government have agreed that partial closure is unnecessary and we will not be insisting on that in the regulations.

The noble Baroness also asked about the obvious concern, given the hiatus in the market earlier this year, on EU ETS registry security. The UK registry is widely recognised as one of the most secure registries in Europe, but, EU-wide, the Commission has issued a draft regulation to address those security issues, and we are engaging with the Commission and other member states on that. Our aim is higher levels of security in the registries while ensuring that we still have a liquid and well functioning market. The Government are well aware of our role as a leading member and are working closely with France, Germany and Spain to try to ensure that the standards throughout Europe are maintained at a high level to reduce that risk.

My noble friend Lady Parminter asked about air quality. That is a very reasonable question to ask. There is no degradation in air quality as a result of those operations. The measure reduces nitrous oxide emissions so, if anything, there should be an improvement, but we could not quantify that exactly. She then asked, as did my noble friend the Duke of Montrose, about the relationship of the regulations to the policy of carbon reduction and nitrous oxide reduction for agriculture in general and about what progress had been made on that front. I cannot answer that question directly, but it is interesting. I will ask my noble friends in Defra to write to put noble Lords in the picture on that.

Meanwhile, if I may, I commend the regulations for approval.