Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money has been allocated for the construction of border inspection posts in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The construction of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Inspection Facilities in Northern Ireland is supported by an agreed business case which provides a funding envelope of up to a maximum of £192.3 million. This figure is just an envelope and is not guaranteed as the department always aspires to come in under budget.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect the construction of border inspection posts in Northern Ireland to be completed.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The SPS Inspection Facilities at Northern Ireland points of entry will be completed by 1 July 2025, per our commitments under the Windsor Framework.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government which Minister will have responsibility for the operation, staffing and maintenance of border inspection posts in Northern Ireland upon their completion.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government already assumed responsibility for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Inspection Facilities in Northern Ireland last year. As set out in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper, the Government will take powers at Westminster to direct NI bodies to protect the UK internal market in the operation of the Windsor Framework. We will set out further details in due course.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - 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 implications for trade within the UK of the proposal to stop environmental checks on (1) meat, or (2) frozen locker products, leaving Northern Ireland for destinations in Great Britain.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
HM Government is not aware of any proposals to stop environmental checks. Products of animal origin (POAO) from Northern Ireland (NI) moving in refrigerated trucks from NI into Great Britain benefit from unfettered market access. These movements are subject to the same hygiene requirements that any other movements of POAO are subject to within the UK.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what impact the decision by the EU to permit the feeding of animal remains to farm livestock will have on the importation of animal products into Great Britain from Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The EU is introducing legislative changes which follow their agreed TSE roadmaps.
These proposals would authorise for the EU:
The rules will still be more stringent than those required by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) which only ban the use of ruminant proteins in feed for ruminant animals.
Pigs and poultry have not been shown to be susceptible to TSE. The proposals will not affect the existing bans on feeding animal proteins to ruminants and on intra-species recycling (feeding an animal with a product derived from the same species), and they do not include high-risk animal by-products which are incinerated. Nor would they permit the feeding of animal remains to farmed livestock, which is banned in the UK and the EU.
The restrictions on feeding of livestock in England will not be altered by EU legislation. Before taking any policy decision, officials would obtain advice from Government scientists and from the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) regarding any potential risk to human or animal health; and engage closely with groups representing consumers, retailers, producers, farmers and other interested stakeholders.
Animal Health is a devolved matter, so this policy is devolved to the Scottish and the Welsh Ministers for their respective territories.
Under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the amendments will apply to Northern Ireland.
The UK does not ban the imports of pig and poultry meat products from countries where the feed rules comply with the OIE requirements. This means that imports of pig and poultry meat products from the EU or Northern Ireland will continue to be accepted into Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the decision by the EU to allow animal remains to be fed to farm livestock will result in this practice being permitted in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The EU is introducing legislative changes which follow their agreed TSE roadmaps.
These proposals would authorise for the EU:
The rules will still be more stringent than those required by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) which only ban the use of ruminant proteins in feed for ruminant animals.
Pigs and poultry have not been shown to be susceptible to TSE. The proposals will not affect the existing bans on feeding animal proteins to ruminants and on intra-species recycling (feeding an animal with a product derived from the same species), and they do not include high-risk animal by-products which are incinerated. Nor would they permit the feeding of animal remains to farmed livestock, which is banned in the UK and the EU.
The restrictions on feeding of livestock in England will not be altered by EU legislation. Before taking any policy decision, officials would obtain advice from Government scientists and from the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) regarding any potential risk to human or animal health; and engage closely with groups representing consumers, retailers, producers, farmers and other interested stakeholders.
Animal Health is a devolved matter, so this policy is devolved to the Scottish and the Welsh Ministers for their respective territories.
Under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the amendments will apply to Northern Ireland.
The UK does not ban the imports of pig and poultry meat products from countries where the feed rules comply with the OIE requirements. This means that imports of pig and poultry meat products from the EU or Northern Ireland will continue to be accepted into Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to retain the ban on the feeding of animal remains to farm livestock in England.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The EU is introducing legislative changes which follow their agreed TSE roadmaps.
These proposals would authorise for the EU:
The rules will still be more stringent than those required by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) which only ban the use of ruminant proteins in feed for ruminant animals.
Pigs and poultry have not been shown to be susceptible to TSE. The proposals will not affect the existing bans on feeding animal proteins to ruminants and on intra-species recycling (feeding an animal with a product derived from the same species), and they do not include high-risk animal by-products which are incinerated. Nor would they permit the feeding of animal remains to farmed livestock, which is banned in the UK and the EU.
The restrictions on feeding of livestock in England will not be altered by EU legislation. Before taking any policy decision, officials would obtain advice from Government scientists and from the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) regarding any potential risk to human or animal health; and engage closely with groups representing consumers, retailers, producers, farmers and other interested stakeholders.
Animal Health is a devolved matter, so this policy is devolved to the Scottish and the Welsh Ministers for their respective territories.
Under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the amendments will apply to Northern Ireland.
The UK does not ban the imports of pig and poultry meat products from countries where the feed rules comply with the OIE requirements. This means that imports of pig and poultry meat products from the EU or Northern Ireland will continue to be accepted into Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the EU to lift the ban on feeding animal remains to pigs and poultry.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The EU is introducing legislative changes which follow their agreed TSE roadmaps.
These proposals would authorise for the EU:
The rules will still be more stringent than those required by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) which only ban the use of ruminant proteins in feed for ruminant animals.
Pigs and poultry have not been shown to be susceptible to TSE. The proposals will not affect the existing bans on feeding animal proteins to ruminants and on intra-species recycling (feeding an animal with a product derived from the same species), and they do not include high-risk animal by-products which are incinerated. Nor would they permit the feeding of animal remains to farmed livestock, which is banned in the UK and the EU.
The restrictions on feeding of livestock in England will not be altered by EU legislation. Before taking any policy decision, officials would obtain advice from Government scientists and from the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) regarding any potential risk to human or animal health; and engage closely with groups representing consumers, retailers, producers, farmers and other interested stakeholders.
Animal Health is a devolved matter, so this policy is devolved to the Scottish and the Welsh Ministers for their respective territories.
Under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the amendments will apply to Northern Ireland.
The UK does not ban the imports of pig and poultry meat products from countries where the feed rules comply with the OIE requirements. This means that imports of pig and poultry meat products from the EU or Northern Ireland will continue to be accepted into Great Britain.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) beef, and (2) lamb, from Australia which has been (a) reared using antibacterial infusions, and (b) fed unrestricted amounts of GM produce, will be allowed into the UK as a result of the recently announced trade deal.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is rightly proud of our world-leading food, health and animal welfare standards. As we have previously made clear, we will not compromise on these standards in our trade negotiations.
Our deal with Australia does not change any of our existing import requirements. All meat, and other animal products, imported into the UK under this deal will continue to be subject to clear controls on limits of veterinary medicine residues, including antimicrobials. Moreover, we have agreed to cooperate with Australia on combatting antimicrobial resistance. This demonstrates our commitment to values-based trade policy and is a very positive step.
Our rules on genetically modified (GM) organisms also remain in place and only authorised GM material will be permitted for import from Australia. However, it is important to clarify that products such as milk and meat derived from animals fed GM feed are not themselves GM organisms. Here in the UK we import approximately 3 million tonnes of authorised GM feed per year - approximately 70% of our total animal protein feed requirement. UK animal products fed with such feed are then exported in the same manner as those fed on non-GM diets and the same is true with Australian animal products. The industry operates in this way regardless of our trade agreement and it presents no weakening of standards on GM.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to whether (1) beef, and (2) lamb, imports from Australia that do not meet EU rules will result in greater controls and inspections of all beef and lamb products entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Australia is already permitted to export beef and lamb to the UK on the basis that we have determined it meets our strict animal health and food safety requirements. This is verified through checks at the border on the product and the accompanying veterinary health certification. The rules for the importation of products of animal origin (POAO) including beef and lamb into Great Britain from countries such as Australia is laid down in Retained EU legislation.
There is nothing in the trade agreement between the UK and Australia that will lower or compromise the UK’s high food standards and therefore no basis for increased checks on products entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.