Ivory Act 2018 (Meaning of “Ivory” and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024

Lord Trees Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Grand Committee

[Lord Carrington of Fulham (Con)]

My Lords, I start by declaring my interests, as in the register. I am the president of the British Antique Dealers’ Association, which is an honorary and, sadly, unpaid position. However, I am of course speaking on my own behalf, not on behalf of any outside body.

I want to take this opportunity to review a little of the relationship that this statutory instrument has with the 2018 Act, as well as the way in which the two operate together. I hope that the Grand Committee will bear with me in this. I should start by saying that I hope we are all in favour of preserving wildlife, particularly endangered species and those threatened with extinction. We should all, therefore, be in favour of improving the Ivory Act so that it helps to achieve that aim.

The concern that some of us have about the Ivory Act, had when that Act passed through your Lordships’ House in 2018 and now have about this statutory instrument is not about their noble objectives. It is about whether they work to achieve their aspirations, the all-encompassing way in which both the Act and the SI are drafted and the unintended consequences that they lead to, not least the destruction of items made of or containing ivory above the de minimis limit—in other words, low-value items of historic interest and often of great beauty, but not of museum quality, being put in landfill because they cannot be sold.

The statutory instrument extends the definition of ivory to include whale teeth and narwhal tusks. I do not have a problem with banning the sale of modern products made from whale teeth and narwhal tusks, although I do not think there is much evidence that there is any market for modern items made from whale or narwhal.

Historically, whale teeth were used by sailors to make scrimshaw in one form or another. Whale scrimshaw can be a tooth, which has patterns or pictures inscribed into it using a sailor’s knife or another sharp object. They are of great historic interest because they shed light on the often difficult and miserable lives of sailors in the 18th and early 19th centuries. They are of particular value because of their being works of art made by the poor and working classes, so little of which has come down to us as compared to the art of the aristocracy and the upper classes. They are folk art. They are not of great monetary value. A good early example will typically sell for £100 to £200 at auction. They can be faked but rarely are because they cannot be sold for enough to justify the work that goes into them. In any case, modern scrimshaw is easily distinguished from old.

Narwhal tusks are rarely worked. Historically, they were mounted and displayed, sometimes whimsically as unicorn horns. Perhaps the most famous example is in Fishmongers’ Hall, used as a weapon to stop the terrorist on London Bridge in 2019.

The Ivory Act allows a limited trade in some antique objects containing ivory, hence the Act’s exemptions—including one permitting trade in registered antiques with less than 10% ivory content. I understand that, under this exemption, some 19,000 elephant ivory items and portrait miniatures painted on ivory have now been registered under the Act. A further 325 items of outstandingly high historical value have exemption certificates.

However, in stark contrast to elephant ivory, virtually all old objects in this statutory instrument are solid ivory, so scrimshaw cannot benefit at all from the Act’s de minimis exemptions. Nor are any of these items likely to be granted an exemption certificate for being of outstandingly high historical value, since they are folk art. So, for scrimshaw and old ethnographic objects, this statutory instrument means a 100% prohibition on sales to antique collectors—zero trade. If they cannot be sold, they will inevitably end up in landfill in time.

Why are we doing this? There is virtually no import/export trade in whale teeth or narwhal tusks. For example, in 2022, there were no commercial imports of sperm whale teeth, while just two teeth were exported. Narwhal are not on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s endangered list.

The major concern about the way the Act and the SI work comes down to the impact on historical objects of beauty and artistic merit made of ivory. We debated extensively in Committee on the now Act whether antique ivory objects had to be destroyed to stop modern ivory knick-knacks being made in China and Vietnam. The market in Asia is for modern ivory items, often from newly poached elephant tusks, not for antiques.

One of the claims made to justify the draconian impact of the Act and statutory instrument is that it is impossible to tell whether the ivory came from an animal killed 100, 200 or 300 years ago or from one killed yesterday. However, now that we have experience of the working of the Act, it is clear that museum experts in antiques and specialists in the antiques trade can prove the age of ivory objects with or without using simple scientific tests. Indeed, the Act itself set up panels of experts to determine whether an ivory artefact of high artistic and historic importance was genuine and worth preserving. These panels seem to have no trouble distinguishing between old and new ivory. Now that it is well established that it is possible to tell the difference between old and new ivory, why can we not widen this vetting by a panel of experts to other ivory objects? It should be possible to allow them to be sold through licensed dealers and auction houses, for example.

The other argument used to justify the Act and this statutory instrument is the more nebulous one: it is all about the United Kingdom’s soft power—that is, if we crack down on the sale of ivory, Asian countries will wake up to their responsibilities to save endangered species and follow the UK’s lead, apparently not having realised that they should do so until we showed them the way. The view that we are the moral leaders of the world seems weird, patronising and possibly colonial.

How has our soft power worked? It has not had much influence on the European Union, which bans the import and export of ivory but allows it to be traded within the EU. That is very different from the UK, where the trade is completely banned. Dare I say, as a Conservative, that the EU’s response is much more logical and sensible than ours. As far as I can tell, ivory is also still freely available in much of Asia.

That brings me to a few questions for the Minister. First, what assessment have His Majesty’s Government made of the impact of the Ivory Act on the poaching of elephants in Africa? Secondly, which countries have followed the UK in introducing a total ban on the trading of ivory items? Thirdly, what assessment have His Majesty’s Government made of the number, type and value of objects containing ivory that have been destroyed as a consequence of the Act? Finally, what assessment have His Majesty’s Government made of the number of narwhal tusks and whale teeth imported into and exported out of the UK in recent years?

I know that this SI will pass but I hope that we can have a Government who understand our heritage in beautiful objects created down the ages, redolent of social and artistic history; and that such a Government can realise that saving the elephant, the whale and the narwhal can be done successfully without the destruction of hundreds of years of historic and beautiful art.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, the Ivory Act 2018 and subsequent statutory instruments pertained only to ivory of elephant origin. Although those instruments covered the vast majority of ivory products, these new regulations extend the meaning of ivory to include the “tusk or tooth” of a hippopotamus, killer whale, narwhal or sperm whale. These species are listed under CITES, and although they compromise only a small amount of the broad definition of “ivory”, the amending regulations limit opportunities for laundering ivory under the guise of another species that is not prohibited. The regulations also mitigate the risk of poaching displacement—a lovely word I had not come across but which was in the Explanatory Memorandum—to non-elephant ivory-bearing species.

The current legislation places the burden of proof on anyone accused of potential ivory trading to prove that the ivory is not from a prohibited species. It is very useful that specific institutions are named as able to provide expert advice to the Secretary of State. I wonder whether that could partly satisfy some of the noble Lord’s concerns. I note that walrus products are already covered under the assimilated EU regulations, as the Minister mentioned.

The regulations sensitively recognise that certain indigenous communities, such as the Inuit, rely on subsistence hunting of some of these species for food and derive part of their income from the sale of ivory products as a by-product of this hunting. As I understand it, these regulations would not prevent UK tourists acquiring small amounts of ivory items made from the species covered by these regulations from these communities and bringing them back as personal possessions under CITES regulations—that is, with a permit and declaration at customs—but will prevent any degree of commercial trade and onward sale in the secondary ivory market in the UK. Can the Minister confirm my understanding of this permitted trade with indigenous communities?

The miscellaneous amendments in the instrument will further strengthen the protection of endangered species around the world. I welcome them, although I have some sympathy with the noble Lord’s concerns.

[Baroness Rawlings (Con)]

My Lords, I very much concur with the remarks of my noble friend Lord Carrington of Fulham. I declare my interests as listed in the register.

I will comment on the detrimental impact that extending the Ivory Act will have on the formation of collections of historical objects. Most museum collections in this country, whether quirky municipal ones or great national ones, were formed as a result of the philanthropy of community-spirited collectors. Those collectors may have spent their lives—and, I hasten to add, their own money—being passionate about and studying a particular branch of history, and acquiring historical artefacts or works of art to reflect their passion. After decades of forming a collection they may have wanted the public to have access to it, so they gave or sold it to their local museum.

One such example of this is the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, which has a scrimshaw collection formed by Surgeon Captain AWB Livesey RN. The collection comprises etched sperm whale teeth from the first half of the 19th century, depicting subjects such as naval engagements from the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812 between Britain and America, the bombardment of Algiers to release Christian slaves in 1816, and the struggle of many countries in central and South America to achieve independence from Spanish rule. All these etchings were created from the perspective of the ordinary sailor, armed with a sharp blade and some lamp soot. Had Captain Livesey been alive today, this statutory instrument would have prevented him forming such a remarkable collection.

Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Enforcement Regulations 2024.

Lord Trees Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Grand Committee

Finally, it is extremely important that sufficient, timely advice and guidance are given to the enforcing authorities, in particular on the plans for the animals retained under the hold notice but also on other parts of the regulations. Who does she expect to give that advice and at what stage of the process will it be given? Obviously, this is a new set of circumstances in which hauliers and farmers will find themselves. Those are my concerns, but I welcome the enforcement regulations following the Bill.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, I welcome these regulations, which enforce and extend measures in the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act, which was passed earlier this year, to prohibit the export of certain animals for fattening or slaughter from or through Great Britain to countries outside the British Isles. These geographical restrictions are very precise and important; we will come to that in a minute.

I note that the Act has no restriction on export for breeding purposes and did not include poultry. Both of those exemptions are fully justified and remain, although, as the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, alluded to, there are problems with exporting live breeding mammals. I also note, as she has done, that the original Act included equids but the regulations under discussion do not. I repeat the question: when might consideration be given to having equivalent regulations for equids? Although I do not think that a functioning ferry for horses is working at the minute, the export of live horses for slaughter is something that potentially concerns a lot of veterinary and animal welfare bodies.

I further note that, because of the present occurrence of bluetongue in England, the movement of all live ruminants to Northern Ireland from England is currently suspended. We hope that that will not be indefinite, of course.

The original Act allowed movement for slaughter and fattening to Northern Ireland as part of the UK. Since there is, under EU jurisdiction, free movement of animals from Northern Ireland to the Irish Republic and to the EU beyond that, this is a potential loophole that could be exploited; like others, I drew noble Lords’ attention to it in the debate on the original Bill in February. This movement to Northern Ireland was and is subject to certain conditions, including direct movement to either an abattoir or a farm, at which there should be a standstill on movement for at least 30 days. However, unscrupulous persons could move animals after standstill, or even before that, to the Irish Republic then onwards to anywhere in the EU, perhaps even to north Africa.

Given the scale of movements between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic—the figures I have suggest that, in 2022, 337,000 sheep were moved between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic for fattening and slaughter—it is clearly possible that a substantial number of animals might be legally moved, ultimately for slaughter, into the EU or beyond by unscrupulous persons. So, again, I ask: to what extent will we be able to monitor those movements to try to detect whether there are illegal movements within that traffic?

I welcome the fact that the current regulations appear to try to close this loophole by requiring the exporter in Great Britain to submit evidence of the purpose of export to the APHA before the journey log can be approved. The APHA must be satisfied that the animals will not be exported for fattening and slaughter before movement is approved, and it will have the power to require supplementary evidence demonstrating that. This is a very welcome measure; I congratulate the Government on introducing it.

Lastly, do His Majesty’s Government have any plans to review movement regulations in the UK, now that we are no longer bound by EU rules? We all acknowledge that animal welfare can be compromised by long-distance live transport. As well as the total distance travelled, the frequency of loading and unloading is a hazardous procedure that can give rise to injury and welfare problems. The movement of sheep within the UK can involve very long journeys, for example from Caithness to Cornwall, and the normal rearing process for sheep involves frequent long-distance movements between owners. Are His Majesty’s Government satisfied that the current rules and regulations with regard to journey times and transport conditions within the UK are appropriate? Having said all that, I very much welcome these regulations on livestock export.

[Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard (UUP)]

My Lords, I thank noble Lords for giving me the opportunity to speak here. I welcome the Minister to her place. I declare an interest as a farmer in Northern Ireland; we heard some mention of Northern Ireland. I suppose I have a few queries around these regulations.

One of my concerns is how it will be managed, with animal welfare being a devolved issue in both Scotland and Wales. Will that cause any complications with these regulations, because quite often we find that devolved institutions are very precious and protective of their own rights? I am just concerned that it will fall between two stools.

The noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, has already asked whether the farmer or haulier will be responsible when there is a check and an inspector looks at the issues.

I am also curious about journey log records. The regulations mention applicable guidance that will focus on changes to the application process for journey logs, especially the need to provide corroborating evidence on the purpose of the export. I am wondering what level of evidence will be required to corroborate that with the journey log, because quite often that can be manipulated. We have heard some instances of concern around export to Northern Ireland and how that may provide extended journeys that are not covered within the legislation.

The next point I am curious about is animals that are being transported from Northern Ireland to Great Britain; will they be required to have exactly the same journey logs? Will the same record-keeping system be required for them and will the corroborating evidence be the same as that required in other parts of Great Britain?

Those are just a few of the queries that I have on these regulations; I know that the debate on the main legislation has already taken place. I just have some concerns that we may find that some issues drop through loopholes and may not be fully accountable to the authorities that look over the regulations.

Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill

Lord Trees Excerpts

Report stage
Wednesday 8th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Fookes (Con)]

My Lords, my name has already been mentioned in this regard and, like others who have spoken, I am fully in sympathy with and support of the thrust of the amendments before us. I worry, however, about what happens if we pass such an amendment and it has to go back to the Commons. I do not know how close we are to a general election, but it is all too easy for things to get lost, particularly when there are other major Bills—perhaps of more interest to others than to us—which might get much further ahead in the queue. Having waited 50 years for a Bill such as this to be passed, I am desperately anxious that it does not fall at the last hurdle. So, reluctantly, I would not wish to vote for this amendment, but my heart is there for it. It is simply a pragmatic reaction.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, in line with the noble Baroness’s comments, I have a lot of empathy with this amendment and indeed the later amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell. If they had been incorporated originally, that would have been perfectly reasonable, but alas, they are not in the Bill. This is a very important Bill and to send it back to the Commons would, as has been mentioned, seriously risk losing it. As it stands, it is an important Bill for the improvement of animal welfare. We have had a lot of animal welfare legislation in the last 10 years, but this is one of the more important examples. The noble Baroness, Lady Fookes, has waited 50 years for it, as she told us on her birthday at Second Reading. Regrettably, I say to my noble friend that I cannot support the amendment.

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I begin by congratulating the noble Lord, Lord de Clifford, on his first amendment. I, like the previous two speakers, would ideally have liked to see this in the Bill at the beginning. I have not been campaigning for as long as my noble friend Lady Fookes, but I have been campaigning to get this ban in place for a number of years—from the time when I sat on the Farm Animal Welfare Council, which I think started in the 1990s.

I am keen to make sure that there is no excuse not to get this on to the statute book. My noble friend Lady Fookes and I tried to get it into the Agriculture Bill a few years ago. We were told, “Please don’t do it”, but we promised to bring it back in another form, and here it is. I can only echo the words of my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Trees: yes, ideally, it would be good to have this, but let us not hold up the Bill. Please let us ensure that it gets on to the statute book so that animals can no longer be exported for slaughter or fattening.

EU Imports and Exports: Food and Agricultural Products

Lord Trees Excerpts

Thursday 2nd May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, on securing this debate, and declare my interests as a veterinary surgeon and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare.

The introduction of these risk-based checks on imported medium-risk and high-risk animal and plant products from the EU is to be welcomed. As noble Lords might imagine, I will focus particularly on the import of animal products. These checks simply create parity with imports from all other third-party countries, and parity with the checks that the EU carries out on our exports to it in the absence of a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement. In that respect, it creates a level playing field for our farmers, and should help rebalance, to some extent, a very distorted trade balance, to which the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, has already referred. In spite of that, as she also mentioned, the EU remains the UK’s biggest market for agri-food exports.

Apart from fairness, the real importance of these checks is biosecurity. These checks, particularly the physical checks, in a risk-based approach, will reduce the risk of importing to the UK infectious diseases in plants, animals and indeed humans. Since imports from the EU constitute such a large proportion of all the food products of animal origin imported into the UK—80% of all the animal-origin foods in 2022—it is critical that the EU is included in biosecurity checks. Despite the relative sophistication of EU animal disease control and surveillance, a number of animal pathogens occur in continental Europe that we want to exclude from the UK animal population. There are also potential public health threats that we want to exclude from food.

Delays in introducing these checks—there have been five since they were announced in 2021—have, historically, created a vulnerability in our UK biosecurity. During that period we have seen, for example, an outbreak of disease in over 200 people in the UK caused by salmonella, likely to have been imported in frozen poultry products from Poland. The new checks should prevent such issues and, much more importantly, reduce the likelihood of major outbreaks of infectious disease in the UK, such as African swine fever, a highly fatal disease of pigs that is spreading westward in continental Europe and can infect a wildlife reservoir—the wild boar. The UK Government estimate that an outbreak of African swine fever in the UK would cost £570 million-odd per annum. Since we import nearly 1 million tonnes of pigmeat every year, mainly from the EU, and the African swine fever virus will persist for many weeks in pig products, African swine fever poses a potent threat to the UK pig population.

With regard to the new checks, I note there is to be a reduction in physical and identity checks on medium-risk products from the rest of the world. This is of some concern, particularly with regard to diseases of global distribution, such as foot and mouth, the outbreak of which in the UK in 2001 cost £8 billion, which equates to £12.8 billion in 2022 prices. Will the Minister assure the House that this will not increase our vulnerability to globally distributed epidemic diseases such as foot and mouth? I should add that an epidemic of infectious disease in UK animals would not just cause colossal direct losses in animal welfare, our farming economy and food security, but lead to international trade restrictions on our global exports, which rely on our freedom from disease status.

Of course, as has been mentioned, there are costs to the implementation of these controls. Logistical challenges include the time-critical nature of some imports, particularly plant products. Furthermore, despite the Government assuring us that the impact on food and drink businesses will be only 0.2% over three years, other organisations predict larger costs and impacts, as the noble Lord, Lord Redesdale, mentioned. However, in the context of the vast costs of epidemic disease control and eradication, and in the absence of an SPS agreement with the EU, the costs of these checks to industry, and ultimately to the consumer, are relatively small. I suggest they should be viewed as an insurance premium to reduce the likelihood of much greater potential losses, which could affect animal and human health, and the whole UK economy.

Chemicals Strategy

Lord Trees Excerpts

Tuesday 30th April 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

Again, the noble Lord raises a very good point. This is serious stuff which needs to be adhered to in great detail, so I will take his comments back and ensure that we strive much harder this year to get that report out on time.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, antimicrobial resistance is a major global health problem, including in the UK. What are His Majesty’s Government doing regarding surveillance for antibiotics and their residues in aqueous environments and to reduce the contamination of those aqueous environments with antibiotics and residues, which can spread and facilitate the development of antibiotic resistance in humans and animals?

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

Antimicrobial resistance has been raised a number of times in the House. I have had several meetings with the noble Lord and his colleagues, talking about the UK’s success story in this area. Antibiotic use has been reduced by more than 50% over the last five years. However, there is more progress to be made and the noble Lord raises a series of very valuable points, which I will write to him on.

Veterinary Medicines (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2024

Lord Trees Excerpts

Thursday 18th April 2024 Grand Committee

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Douglas-Miller) (Con)]

My Lords, these regulations were laid in draft before the House on 4 March. They seek to amend the legislative regime for veterinary medicines set out in the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 in respect of Great Britain. The amendments will ensure that the law is fit for purpose to protect animal health, public health and the environment.

We are a nation of animal lovers. Veterinary medicines play a vital role in helping vets and those looking after our animals to maintain their health and welfare. As well as benefiting our much-loved companion animals, medicines also play an important role in supporting the farming industry to maintain the health and welfare of their livestock. This is pivotal to the UK’s food supply. Veterinary medicines are, by necessity, highly regulated goods. Their quality, safety and effectiveness are assured by controls on their manufacture, marketing, supply and use, which are set out in the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013.

However, these regulations require updating to reflect changes and technical advances in industry, to future-proof the regulatory regime and to reduce regulatory burden where possible. I believe that the length of this instrument, at 89 pages, gives an indication of the necessity of such an update. I hope noble Lords will forgive me if I do not go into the full details of all the changes, many of which are very technical; instead, I will summarise the rationale behind some of the most significant amendments.

To market a medicine in the UK, a pharmaceutical company needs authorisation for that medicine from the regulator. A large number of the amendments relate to changes in the requirements for companies that hold such authorisations. These regulations apply in Great Britain but will also facilitate the UK-wide marketing of products. The changes will bring Great Britain’s regulatory regime closer to the EU’s, but it is not simply the case that we are just accepting EU rules. My department actively proposed and participated in the discussions on changes to the EU law when we were a member state and it was always the expectation that these changes would apply in the UK too. Leaving the EU, however, has allowed a more flexible approach to updating our legislation.

The changes to marketing authorisation requirements have been requested and are supported by the pharmaceutical companies themselves. They will allow those companies to submit a similar dossier supporting their application for marketing authorisation to my department, to the European Medicines Agency and to EU member states in order to obtain authorisations in both the UK and the EU. This provides for a consistency in technical and data requirements and is vital in ensuring that the UK remains a competitive and attractive global market for veterinary medicines.

The amendments will also make it possible for companies to use common packaging across the UK. This will reduce unnecessary administrative and regulatory burden on industry and will help ensure that these companies continue to market medicines across the UK.

The instrument also amends the requirements related to where such companies must be based to reflect the current practice of global companies having a European base to market medicines across the European region. This provides a regulatory pathway in the regulations that will allow companies based in the EU to continue to market medicines in the UK to ensure the continued availability of medicines here.

For manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors of veterinary medicines, amendments include, for example, the introduction of a registration scheme for manufacturers, distributors and importers of active pharmaceutical ingredients. This will ensure that we have greater oversight in the use of these important, but potentially hazardous, chemicals, which in turn will maximise our ability to take appropriate action in the case of a safety concern or supply shortage.

We encourage appropriate and responsible prescription and supply of veterinary medicines with the amendments, for example, by enhancing the information that must be recorded by prescribers when prescribing medicines. A number of these changes form part of the Government’s plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance to protect human and animal health. Our changes are intended to secure the UK’s significant reductions in antibiotic use in food-producing animals. The legislation will make it very clear that antibiotics are not to be used routinely or to compensate for poor farming practices. The changes will prevent the general use of antibiotics in healthy animals, with exceptions made for where the risk of disease is very high and the consequences likely to be severe. The Third UK One Health Report showed that in 2019 about two-thirds of antibiotics in the UK were for use in humans, compared to one-third in animals. Our antibiotic usage in animals is already lower than in all other European countries with comparably large agriculture sectors. We are keen to maintain a collaborative approach with vets and farmers to ensure a continued and sustainable reduction in antibiotic use. This approach has already led to a 59% reduction in use since 2014.

Other changes include updates to the fees that the regulator charges to industry to undertake its functions. The regulator, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, is a cost-recovery agency, and it is right and proper that the fees are amended to reflect the true cost of providing its regulatory services. These fees have not been updated in more than 10 years.

In conclusion, veterinary medicines are essential to the health and welfare of our animals and to supporting the farming sector in rearing food-producing animals. I hope noble Lords will agree that this instrument is vital to ensuring the continued supply of safe and beneficial medicines while ensuring that my department continues to have effective oversight of how these medicines are manufactured, supplied and used. This includes changes to support our efforts to reduce the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance by further reducing unnecessary use of antibiotics in animals. I hope noble Lords will support these changes. I beg to move.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, first, I say a warm welcome to these new regulations, which are in general welcomed by the veterinary pharmaceutical industry and, I should also say, by the veterinary profession in general, because they are the first major revision of veterinary medicine regulations since 2013. Given the pace of change, technological innovation, pharmacological developments, environmental awareness and, particularly, our increasing awareness of the importance of antimicrobial resistance, these regulations are very timely and welcome.

According to the National Office of Animal Health, the umbrella organisation covering 97% of the UK veterinary pharmaceutical market, the annual sales of veterinary drugs in the UK amount to about £745 million. That is a substantial market and of critical importance, of course, to the health and welfare of animals, food safety and public health. But it is important to recognise as well that, in global terms, this is a relatively small market; thus our alignment, as far as possible, with international standards and requirements is very important to ensure that a full range of products—not only drugs but, critically, vaccines as well—is able to be marketed economically in the UK for the benefit of animals.

In this respect, a general feature of these new regulations is that they rationalise and improve alignment with many aspects of international practice. They attempt to reduce the burdens and obstacles to the global pharmaceutical industry in making veterinary products more readily available on the UK market, which is a very good thing. More specifically, they improve alignment with EU regulations. I hope that this will have a positive effect on the imminent negotiations with the EU to ensure the continuing supply of veterinary medicines to Northern Ireland, for which there is no agreement yet under the Windsor Framework, and which are subject to a temporary grace period. That expires at the end of 2025, which potentially will have quite serious repercussions and lead to quite serious reductions in the availability of veterinary pharmaceutical products for both livestock and companion animals, unless a new agreement is reached.

The regulations involve a number of changes with regard to market authorisation application. Those changes should increase the alignment to facilitate the submission of one dossier to more than one territory, while simplifying labelling and packaging requirements. This should help to optimise the availability of products across the devolved nations of the UK and, indeed, across Europe. A major feature of the regulations is to update controls with regard to antimicrobial marketing, prescribing and classification to help reduce the risk of the development of antimicrobial resistance. There will be further restrictions on the prescription of antibiotic veterinary medicines, so that they are not used routinely as compensation for poor hygiene and low standards in animal husbandry and management practices. That is all an extremely positive development.

It is worth repeating, though, that antibiotics have been banned for use as growth promoters in the UK since 2006. Critically, and of specific importance, is the prohibition of antibiotic usage for any prophylactic purpose except in exceptional circumstances. There is a requirement in these regulations to justify the prescribing of antibiotics in such exceptional circumstances by recording them and making it necessary to conduct a veterinary review of management practices to ensure that there is no recurring need for antibiotic use, where possible.

With regard to antibiotic usage in medicated feed, there is a limit prescribed in the regulations on the time between antibiotics being prescribed and treatment being started, which has been set at no more than five working days. It has been pointed out to me by the aquaculture industry in Scotland, for example, that, given the distances between medicated feed manufacturers and, say, the needs of a salmon farm in the northern Shetland Isles, that five-day period is rather restrictive and may be challenging. I ask the Minister: could such practical issues be taken into account when interpreting that requirement?

Food Security

Lord Trees Excerpts

Tuesday 26th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

The noble Lord raises a good point, and I was a little surprised that I did not see him out there when I went to visit the protesters last night. He is entirely correct; they did make a lot of noise. The Government are supporting farmers across a whole range of areas, be it technology, science, financial, or productivity gain. But it needs to be understood that we are going through a transition at the moment, in order to recalibrate and rebalance our food production and environmental benefits in the countryside. The Government are being crystal clear that food production comes first and foremost in that battle.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, further to the Question asked by the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, may I press the Minister a bit further? In negotiating free trade agreements, will His Majesty’s Government set minimum environmental and animal welfare standards which imported animal products must meet, equivalent to those we demand of our own farmers, so that we do not put our farmers at a comparative disadvantage and undermine our food security?

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right about this issue. Both Defra and the Government have been crystal clear that agriculture is at the forefront of any trade deals we negotiate. We reserve the right to pause negotiations with any country if progress is not being made. We recently did this with Canada, which the president of the NFU welcomed as a relief for farmers. All imports need to meet our food safety requirements, and free trade agreements do not change our protections for food safety, animal welfare and the environment.

Environment Agency

Lord Trees Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

My noble friend is right: local authorities play an absolutely crucial role in protecting the public from flooding. There is a bidding process for funding from the Environment Agency, which looks to assess where funding is most needed to protect and repair the most property and individual life. I appreciate that this is not a perfect system, and I will take this point back to the department.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, what is the Environment Agency doing to improve the detection and, more importantly, reduction of the levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our aqueous environments?

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

The noble Lord raises a very topical point. In the wider context, reducing antimicrobial resistance is one of Defra’s key objectives. I am pleased to say that, in the farming community, we have reduced the use of antibiotics by over 50% as part of the antimicrobial plan. I mention this because one of the main causes of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our waterways comes from the agricultural sector. The Environment Agency continues to use the latest scientific tools to monitor and trial interventions against antibiotic resistance in our rivers, bathing sites and coastal waters. In October last year, the Environment Agency published a review of methods used to better survey and understand antimicrobial resistance. These are being fed into the second five-year antimicrobial resistance action plan.

Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2023

Lord Trees Excerpts

Tuesday 27th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Fookes (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my past and present connections with the RSPCA.

I welcome this SI, but I am sad that it does not go further. I should have liked to have seen a straight ban on the keeping of primates by private owners. If not, there then has to be a whole series of regulations, rules and guidance to try to ensure that standards are sufficiently high. You could cut all that out if you just said a straight no. That is not what we are faced with this afternoon, though I am grateful for small mercies.

I have been and remain very worried about the impact of unnatural conditions on the keeping of primates, which will continue for a couple of years. It is impossible for the bulk of private owners to provide the kind of natural setting which is suitable for these animals.

Even more importantly, they are social animals. They live naturally in groups. In many cases, owners have only one. To me, that is positively cruel. It is the equivalent of solitary confinement for a human being. We all know the impacts of solitary confinement on the psychology and health of people; I believe that it is equally bad for primates. That is a very real concern which I hope can be overcome by the regulations. But will they insist that people have groups of animals? I suspect not, so one of the difficulties will remain.

I do not want to go into detail on the points that the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, has already made. I have considerable sympathy with her criticisms. I too am extremely puzzled as to why the breeding of primates is allowed. For me, if flies in the face of what this SI supposedly wants to do. I hope that the Minister will be able to explain why he thinks this is a good idea. Furthermore, I would have thought it will ensure that animals continue to be kept ad infinitum. It is a great puzzle to me.

I am equally puzzled by the point that exhibitions will be allowed. What exhibitions? That sounds more like a circus to me. What possible reason can there be to have animals in exhibitions? It is absolutely absurd. I am sorry to be so firm with my noble friend, but I do not like it and I do not approve.

Then there is the problem of enforcement. Rules and regulations are fine, providing they are adhered to strictly. Here we have an added problem. The instrument sets out all sorts of excellent arrangements as to the amount of space allowed and all these other details, but we do not have the guidance before us to indicate how this would be worked out in practice. It is a continual complaint of mine that, when people bring forth the principles of things, we do not get the details, which are absolutely essential. I worry about this considerably.

We then, of course, have the particular worry of the implementation—the interim period, if you like, when I think after 6 April 2026 people will either need to have a licence or be asked to give up their animals. The noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, already indicated that this could cause a real problem in practical terms. I too press my noble friend the Minister on exactly how the Government propose to deal with this. Will they, for example, set up special sanctuaries? I do not think there will be enough to do the trick, as at present. I should be happy to hear from my noble friend if I am wrong on that, but I suspect there will be a very real problem with implementation.

For that reason, I too would have preferred what is called a grandfather clause, whereby existing owners could keep the animals for the rest of their natural life. Those conditions may not be ideal, but we have to balance that against the possibility of what will happen in practice if they are all flooded on to the market at once, if I may put it that way, and whether their conditions would be any better. If my noble friend can assure me that that will not be so, then I will worry less about the absence of a grandfather clause.

I both welcome this and am disappointed by some aspects of it, particularly considering the absolutely remarkable ability, with modern technology, to see animals in their natural habitat through films and through sound. Why on earth would anyone wish to keep them in artificial conditions, which will be at best adequate and at worst appalling? I really would wish to go further, but as I say, I accept the SI for want of anything better.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as laid out in the register, particularly my role as co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare. I apologise that I may well repeat many of the excellent points already made by the noble Baronesses, Lady Hayman and Lady Fookes, but they bear repetition. I hope the Minister will take them into account, answer them and perhaps address some of them in guidance.

I broadly welcome these regulations, which were a major feature of the kept animals Bill, which was, of course, withdrawn. As has been explained, they concern the keeping of primates by private individuals, but they do not ban such keeping; rather, they license it. As has been stated, primates have very complex welfare and social needs, which are likely to be very difficult to meet in a domestic environment. There has previously been non-statutory guidance, but this legislation strengthens the necessary safeguards for the welfare of kept primates.

--- Later in debate ---

With that, I hope that I have answered your Lordships’ questions and that all noble Lords share my conviction regarding the need for this instrument. As is clear from the debate, animals matter to all in this House, as they do to the British people. This instrument is a step forward and a promise kept by a Government with animal welfare close to their heart.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

Is the Minister confident that suitably qualified persons can appropriately inspect and monitor the enforcement of these regulations for primates?

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

The noble Lord asks a very good question. One reason for the two-year lead-in is to give us time to assess the qualifications that are needed and put the appropriate training in place to ensure that we can fulfil that obligation.

Peatlands

Lord Trees Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

My Lords, the Government are committed to a range of activities to prevent wildfire. I discussed two of those just now: cutting heather and burning heather. We also have the fire service on standby and are in constant communication with the fire service across the country to address wildfire issues.

[Lord Trees (CB)]

My Lords, peat has been an important domestic fuel in the Highlands for centuries. Is the Minister aware that bags of peat are still freely available in Scottish shops to burn on open fires? This seems inconsistent with our other policy objectives with regard to the conservation of peat.

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

The noble Lord makes a very good point. I am sure that he is aware that peatland matters in Scotland are a devolved issue. I understand that, for historic reasons, there is an inclination towards peat. I hope, as I am sure he does, that it is on the decline.