Avian Influenza: Housing Measures for Kept Birds

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Tuesday 8th December 2020 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

Further to my statement of 12 November, high pathogenicity avian influenza continues to circulate in the UK and Europe. There are now eight confirmed cases in England in kept birds and a large number of findings in wild birds across 19 counties.

Public Health England advises that the risk to public health is very low and the Food Standards Agency has said there is no food safety risk for UK consumers.

Given the high risk of incursion to captive birds we are adding a housing measure to the avian influenza prevention zone (AIPZ). This will take effect from 14 December. It will require all keepers to house their birds or otherwise keep them separate from wild birds. Keepers have until 14 December to ready their birds for housing.

The addition of the housing measure has been co-ordinated with the devolved Administrations and Scottish and Welsh Governments are introducing a similar measure. In practical terms, this means the additional requirement to house birds applies to the whole of Great Britain. In Northern Ireland, as in GB, there is an avian influenza prevention zone in place and the case for further measures on housing is kept under review.

There are rules covering the free range sector in these circumstances. Eggs may continue to be marketed as free range providing the birds are not housed continuously for more than 16 weeks. There are similar rules for poultry meat for 12 weeks. Eggs or poultry can continue to be marketed as organic regardless of this additional housing requirement.

The key to protecting the sector and reducing the risk of further increase in cases is for all keepers to adopt the highest possible standard of biosecurity.

We continue to urge bird keepers to be vigilant for any signs of disease, ensure they maintain their biosecurity, seek prompt advice from their vet and report suspect disease to the animal and plant health agency (APHA), as they must do by law.

We strongly advise keepers to register on the poultry register so as to receive notifications and disease alerts. This is mandatory for all those with flocks of over 50 birds. Registration is easy and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bird-gatherings-licences

Officials examine the evidence about the risk on a daily basis and review their risk assessment at least once a month. The need to keep the housing requirement in place will therefore be continually under review.

[HCWS631]

Agriculture

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the draft Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Amendment) Order 2020, which was laid before this House on 12 November, be approved.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

With this we will take the following motions:

That the draft Direct Payments to Farmers (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 12 November, be approved.

That the draft World Trade Organisation Agreement on Agriculture (Domestic Support) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 12 November, be approved.

[Victoria Prentis]

These are the first regulations produced using the powers under the new Agriculture Act 2020. They lay the groundwork for our new agricultural policy.

Turning to the first of the statutory instruments, the draft regulations will assign additional functions to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. They will enable the AHDB to collect, manage and make available information regarding the identification, movement and health of animals, and to allocate unique identification codes as a means of identifying animals. That information will feed into a new livestock information service.

Of the 165,000 livestock farmers today, nearly 60,000 keep more than one species. Therefore, those farmers need to engage with different services and systems. The livestock information service replaces separate species-specific systems with a single portal for keepers to meet their reporting responsibilities. It should be more cost-effective and easier to use, and it will allow faster and more accurate livestock traceability.

The AHDB will also run a unique number identification service on behalf of England and Wales controlling the issuing of official individual identification numbers to animals. The new system will allow for value-added services where submitted data can be used to generate information in wider areas such as livestock productivity and disease management.

[Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab)]

Since the Minister mentioned Wales, may I raise the issue of Welsh lamb? Sheep are already pregnant with next year’s flock, and we hope that lambs will be frolicking all over the hills in the springtime, but the real worry for many Welsh farmers is that they will not be able to sell their product in the rest of the European Union. What plans have the Government put in place to deal with the eventuality that 50% of the product that presently goes to the European Union cannot be sold?

[Victoria Prentis]

It is a delight to take an intervention from the hon. Gentleman. It is not absolutely on point with this statutory instrument, but it is always a delight to talk about Welsh lamb. I am still very hopeful that we will get a zero-tariff deal with the European Union, which would be a good outcome for Welsh lamb. In the event that we do not get such a deal, as I hope he knows, we worked up various schemes in our previous planning for a no-deal exit, and I am sure that, if needed, those can be got out and worked up once again.

To return to the regulations, this new traceability system, which will be available for sheep in the future, will allow us better to manage disease, which is what we are talking about. We are not talking about deal or no deal at the moment; we are talking about management of disease in lambs, Welsh or otherwise. The system should also enable us to protect human health, giving confidence to trading partners—with whom we hope we will be able to trade—and enable better use of data to manage on-farm productivity and efficiency.

I turn to the Direct Payments to Farmers (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020. The legislation governing direct payment schemes contains financial ceilings that are used to calculate direct payments to farmers. However, the legislation only includes financial ceilings up to and including the 2020 claim year. These regulations specify how the Secretary of State will set financial ceilings for England beyond the end of this year. These regulations also make minor changes to ensure that the schemes continue to work effectively in England beyond 2020. That includes replacing dates specific to the 2020 scheme year with equivalent dates that are not year-specific. The regulations also remove rules that are not relevant to England, such as those relating to voluntary coupled support.

No substantive policy changes are made by these regulations. They ensure the continuity of direct payments in England beyond the end of this year and are largely technical. Farmers will see no change on the ground as a result of them. The Government remain committed to beginning to phase out direct payments from 2021 as part of their ambitious agricultural reforms in England. We will bring forward separate legislation to make those changes. Direct payment schemes fall within devolved competence. The devolved Administrations plan to make their own legislation in relation to direct payment schemes in their own territories.

I turn to the World Trade Organisation Agreement on Agriculture (Domestic Support) Regulations 2020. The World Trade Organisation’s agreement on agriculture divides domestic support into green, blue or amber depending on the support’s potential to distort trade. Under the agreement, each country must limit the amount of trade-distorting amber box domestic support given to agricultural producers. The UK’s overall amber box spend limit remains unchanged after EU exit. These regulations specify the amount of amber box payments that may be given in each country of the UK. Those limits have been set at a level that will not constrain policy choices, meaning that there should be no impact on farmers. The regulations also outline the procedure for classifying such schemes and permit the Secretary of State to request information from the DAs where that is needed to enable the UK to satisfy its obligations under the agreement on agriculture.

These statutory instruments implement provisions provided for by the Agriculture Act. In the case of direct payments, they provide important and necessary continuity for farmers. I urge Members to agree to these regulations, which I commend to the House.

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[Danny Kruger (Devizes) (Con)]

Madam Deputy Speaker, I rise to discuss the second instrument about direct payments, and I beg your forbearance and that of the Front Benchers, who I expect thought they would get away with being the only speakers this afternoon. I am sorry about that, but I put in because I did not get the chance to speak in the debates on the Agriculture Bill earlier this year. I hope the House and you will indulge me for a few minutes while I speak about Wiltshire farmers and the role I think farming could play in the UK after Brexit.

I much enjoyed the Bill Committee, and especially the erudition and good humour of the two Front Benchers. My hon. Friend the Minister and I have something in common, which is a parent in the public eye—both with some strong farming and food credentials, and both with some suspicions about what the Government are up to it when it comes to agriculture—

[Victoria Prentis]

indicated dissent.

[Danny Kruger]

The Minister denies it. It is true to say that I do not think she had the pleasure of the experience of a convoy of tractors driving through Banbury in protest at the Agriculture Bill, with a huge placard on the front tractor saying, “Daddy knows best”, which is what I had in Marlborough, with a placard saying, “Mummy knows best”. Of course, Mummy does know best; she just did not understand the question in that instance. I did of course disagree with those farmers on the detail of the Agriculture Bill, but I did and do share their concerns, and I want to try to summarise those today. There are basically two: there is a practical concern about farm incomes, and there is a strategic or philosophical concern about the place of farming in this country’s future.

Let me summarise the practical concern first. We are basically moving the subsidy—some billions of pounds—from farming as it is traditionally understood, as the management of land for the production of food, to environmental stewardship. The overall budget might be the same and individual farm incomes may be guaranteed for a few years, but this is a profound change in the business model of farming. I was very pleased to get assurances on Monday from the Secretary of State in his statement that the switch is not intended to reduce food production or to take land out of cultivation and put it to other uses. I believe him, and I am sure that is the intention. I fully support the overall mission of the reforms, which is to enable sustainable food production in this country, but the design and details of the system are essential to make sure that we do not inadvertently make people, against their best instincts and against the traditions of their own land, become unwilling environmental stewards rather than food producers.

We all know the jokes about farmers being asked, “What do you farm?” and answering, “Subsidies, mostly.” I am all for subsidies, and I am all for stewardship and for paying farmers to maintain the forests, the streams and the soil, but let us make sure they farm animals and crops. The details of the scheme are what matters here, and we need to get on with it. The time is tight for phasing out basic payments, and we still do not know the full details of what will replace them. I appreciate and applaud the reason for this—the Government want to consult with farmers on the best system for them—but I hope this can happen soon and finish quickly.

Let me finish with the strategic question, which, in a sense, underpins all the technical debate that we are having about subsidies. The Opposition spent much of the debate on the Agriculture Bill talking about trade deals. Although, in a sense, trade deals had nothing to do with that Bill, which was about support for and regulation of British farms, I appreciate why they discussed them. The fact is that a bad trade deal could undermine a good Agriculture Bill—and it was a good Agriculture Bill, especially once food production was recognised as something worth including.

I applaud the Government for the deal they did to keep the National Farmers Union and the Department for International Trade happy by ensuring proper statutory oversight of the trade deals to make sure that food standards and farming interests are protected. We are now in the process of negotiating those trade deals, and here is where the philosophical difference arises; I fear that there may be a philosophical difference between DEFRA and DIT.

It is right that the Departments have slightly different approaches. DIT is there to maximise trade for British companies so that they benefit from lucrative exports and British consumers benefit from cheap imports. Let me take this opportunity to congratulate my old friends Douglas Carswell and Dominic Johnson on their appointments as non-executive directors of DIT this week. They are great patriots with all the right instincts—so much so that I see that DIT has been dubbed by some Conservatives “the Ministry of Sound”. I am pleased about their appointments, but I am not sure that Douglas Carswell or Dominic Johnson has ever so much as grown a tray of cress, let alone planted a carrot or had anything to do with actual farming. I wish all power to the Minister’s elbow in the ongoing oversight that she will exercise over her colleagues in the trade deals that are being negotiated.

We must not offshore our carbon emissions or animal cruelty to other countries. We must not sell out our farmers. We must make a moral and political decision to rely more on British food. Partly this is about food security—as this year shows, it would be unwise to take land out of production that we might need in future crises—but it is also about a way of life. In a mysterious sense, landscape is a human construct bounded by walls and ditches, marked by copses and fields that have been maintained by people who owned or rented the land for generations. Land is made beautiful and meaningful because it is used, not just for the public good of environmental wellbeing, but for the private good of the people who live on it. That is why there is a special place for farmers as stewards of a landscape in use.

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for your patience; I thank the House too. Let me also express my appreciation of the Minister for her work and my support for these statutory instruments. We must maintain direct payments for our farmers. We must introduce variable tariffs to make it pointless for foreign countries to export to this country food made to lower standards than ours. We must protect our farmers, because their private good is the public good.

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[Victoria Prentis]

It is lovely to have you in the Chair, Madam Deputy Speaker. A large number of questions have been asked. I will endeavour to answer them as best I can, but if I miss any, hon. Members should not hesitate to catch up with me afterwards.

The hon. Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) mentioned avian flu and his constructive approach, which we have discussed outside the Chamber. As is clear, poultry will not initially be part of this new scheme, but I have asked and have been assured that the scheme and the new framework is sufficiently flexible possibly to include poultry one day if that were considered sensible. The service will be delivered by Livestock Information Ltd, which will be a public company jointly owned by DEFRA and the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, and its constitution will ensure that both Government and the farming industry are involved in key decisions.

The projected monetised net benefit over a 10-year appraisal period is, conservatively, £30 million. We might well hope for better. The new system is not yet live, but the existing sheep service is due to transition to the new arrangements in the spring of 2021. Cattle and pig services—pigs, in particular, are dealt with quite differently at the moment—are due to transition to the new service in 2022. The new service does not replace the individual traceability services run by the devolved Administrations. All data provided by the DAs and DEFRA to enable the AHDB to run the UK view will be handled in accordance with the data-sharing agreement that will be agreed by all Administrations. The AHDB will not be able to use data outside the terms of that agreement.

An important part of the traceability aspect of the programme is the work with the DAs to share data to ensure seamless traceability throughout the UK, which is important. DEFRA and the DAs will enter into an agreement to control and share data jointly—that is the UK view—and each territory’s traceability systems will be able to communicate with each other to support day-to-day business operations. That is clearly important for all parts of the UK.

Let me turn to the Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Act 2020, which was focused, as we said at the time, on maintaining the status quo as the UK left the EU. It was not there to extend the scope of the regulations beyond 2020. The Agriculture Act is, in my view, the proper place for our post-2020 changes, which is why we have introduced this SI. The changes in the SI are not specific to 2021, so we will not need to bring forward SIs to deal with direct payments in future years of the transition.

I reassure the hon. Member for Angus (Dave Doogan) that Scotland has not been short-changed. Our manifesto committed to guaranteeing the current annual budget to farmers in every year of this Parliament, and we are delivering on that manifesto. The Secretary of State mentioned this several times when asked about it when he gave his statement to the House on the agricultural transition plan—was that only on Monday, Madam Deputy Speaker? I repeat what he said: EU funding currently still flows to the various nations and we will top that up to the agreed level, which is £595 million for Scotland annually. We used 2019 exchange rates, which were very favourable—a good thing—and that means that our commitment is greater than that which was spent under the common agricultural policy.

The Rural Payments Agency was mentioned, and I thank it enormously for its work to pay farmers over the past two or three days. The figures this year have been superb. A number of Members of this House who are in receipt of direct payments have been at pains to come up to me to thank me for their speedy payment this year, and I know that many farmers are impressed with the current service. I have a great deal of confidence in the RPA and I am very grateful to it for its hard work in these difficult times.

Although they were broadly out of the scope of this debate, I wish to take a few moments to respond to some of the substantive points made by the hon. Member for Cambridge about “The Path to Sustainable Farming”, which we published on Monday. This document is an important publication that sets out detail on the early years of the agricultural transition, including, of course, the reductions that we are going to make to direct payments. In 2021, we intend to apply a reduction of 5% to the first £30,000 that a farmer might receive. Higher reductions will be applied to amounts in higher payment bands. We intend to legislate for those reductions in an affirmative statutory instrument early next year. We will then reduce direct payments by around 15% in both 2022 and 2023.

The money each year will still go to farmers. We will ensure that they can access new schemes as receipts from direct payments fall. In 2022, we will start to roll out some core elements of the new schemes, and our sustainable farming incentive will support new approaches to farm husbandry. We are also offering a range of interventions to help farmers to get their businesses ready for transition, including a slurry scheme and a research and development scheme, and from 2022 we plan to offer an exit-support scheme.

We have confirmed our intention to make further simplifications to direct payments schemes from the 2021 scheme year. These simplifications will be made through a separate statutory instrument, which we intend to lay shortly. Changes will include removing the so-called “greening rules”—if ever anything were misnamed. it is those; they are in fact complicated red tape and have delivered very little for the environment—removing the requirement for farmers to use all direct payment entitlements at least once every two years; improving the arrangements for farmers whose land crosses borders between our nations; and extending the application period for farmers to make force majeure applications.

2021 is going to be a crucial year for agriculture and we will continue to work with farmers to get the start of the transition right, including consulting on delinking of direct payments and exit schemes and starting the national pilot for the new schemes. We are keen to continue working with Members on both sides of the House as we progress our reforms.

Turning to the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Devizes (Danny Kruger), let me say that of course his mummy knows best. I learnt to cook at her school, so I have always been a big fan of his mummy. I went on a catering course there. It was a very long time ago, I am ashamed to say, but I use what I was taught almost every day of my life and I think of her often. As he mentions my dad, I also ought to mention that it is his 78th birthday today—so he is only slightly older than the average basic payment scheme recipient. It is right that in a debate about farming he is congratulated on his birthday. My hon. Friend made a thoughtful speech, and his local farmers should be grateful for not only his mother’s support, but his. I welcomed his input into the Agriculture Bill Committee. He is right to mention the more philosophical aspects. It is right that we discuss those as we make the most important changes in British farming for 50 years. I reassure him that I very much feel it is my job to stand up for British farming, and I believe that this Government, who have committed to total spend on agriculture for each year of this Parliament that is generous and right, will do that.

A few other points were made on the WTO statutory instrument. The powers given to the Secretary of State by part 6 could not allow the Government to deviate from the standards on animal welfare or animal food labelling. We discussed that in Committee at length. The issues are not within the scope of the agreement on agriculture, so the Agriculture Act simply could not apply in that way. The instrument is reserved to the UK Government because the functions within it simply cannot be exercised by the devolved Administrations—they do not have the legislative competence to act in these matters for other parts of the UK. However, I would like to say, as I have said before, that England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland officials have worked closely throughout the process of drafting these regulations and the final version takes into account the views of all four Administrations.

I am sorry that I have taken rather longer than anticipated, Madam Deputy Speaker, but a number of important questions were raised. I hope I have been able to answer them. What I hope will be clear to Members is how important these instruments are in implementing the intentions of the Agriculture Act. They provide continuity and certainty for stakeholders and beneficiaries in continuing direct payments beyond 2020. They enable us to fulfil our international obligations on agriculture and they provide the basis for the beginning of the agricultural transition. I urge the House to accept them.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That the draft Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (Amendment) Order 2020, which was laid before this House on 12 November, be approved.

AGRICULTURE

Resolved,

That the draft Direct Payments to Farmers (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 12 November, be approved.—(Victoria Prentis.)

AGRICULTURE

Resolved,

That the draft World Trade Organisation Agreement on Agriculture (Domestic Support) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 12 November, be approved.—(Victoria Prentis.)

Exiting the European Union (Plant Health)

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd December 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the draft Plant Health (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 10 November, be approved.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

With this we will take the following motion:

That the draft Plant Health (Phytosanitary Conditions) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 10 November, be approved.

[Victoria Prentis]

These statutory instruments will establish the future plant health regime for Great Britain by ensuring that EU legislation relating to phytosanitary controls, which is retained under the EU withdrawal Act, is operable after the end of the transition period. Devolved Administrations have given their consent to these SIs.

It is our responsibility to protect biosecurity across plant and animal health and the wider ecosystem. It is important that our biosecurity protections are aligned to address the specific and often unique risks that relate to Great Britain. These regulations are specifically about protecting plant biosecurity.

On the plant health SI, this makes operability amendments to the retained EU plant health regulation to reflect the risks to Great Britain, rather than the risks to the wider EU, and to reflect the EU’s status as a third country after the end of the transition period. There are amendments to implement a new UK plant passport in place of the current EU one, with the format of the new document set out within the SI.

From the end of the transition period, Great Britain will also no longer use the EU protected zone arrangements and will instead move to using pest-free areas, an internationally recognised classification that allows countries to take additional protective measures against incursions from pests which are established elsewhere.

The SI also makes transitional provisions to allow the continued flow of trade and to reflect the phased import requirements detailed in the published border operating model. Phytosanitary certificates will be required for those plants and plant products from the EU that pose the highest biosecurity risk to Great Britain from 1 January, where import controls for lower-risk plant material will be phased in gradually from April.

This SI makes operability amendments to the Official Controls (Plant Health and Genetically Modified Organisms) (England) Regulations 2019 to correct references to EU legislation. It also makes consequential amendments to fees legislation, including amendments to allow charging for services relating to exports to the EU.

[John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con)]

It is very important that we have very high standards and I am glad that we are doing that, but will my hon. Friend also ensure that they are high standards that help domestic growers, because we need to have more home-grown food on British plates and more jobs in agriculture in Britain?

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[Victoria Prentis]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention. This is a matter that he and I have discussed before and I know that he is every bit as ambitious for the future of British horticulture as I am. I really do think that there is more that we could be growing here and I very much hope that, in the next few years, that comes to pass.

This SI also contains amendments to primary legislation to remove references to EU obligations. These changes have no operational impact, but simply remove redundant and inoperable references to EU obligations.

I turn to the phytosanitary conditions SI. This sets out the lists for Great Britain of quarantine pests, provisional quarantine pests, pest-free area quarantine pests and regulated non-quarantine pests. It also sets out measures in relation to the introduction of plants, plant products and other relevant objects into Great Britain and the movement of these within Great Britain.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for giving way and for outlining the regulations. In relation to Northern Ireland, which has built a fantastic reputation on a top-quality product, and most of the agri-food sector we have export, what discussions has she had with the Minister in Northern Ireland and would those discussions ensure that our high-quality standards would be maintained as well, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

[Victoria Prentis]

The hon. Gentleman is a great champion for his farmers. This SI is related to GB only, but I assure him that I speak very frequently to the Minister in Northern Ireland. I have not done so this week, but I do generally often and I probably will in the course of the next few days. I know that he and I are both committed to very high standards in British agriculture.

In making these operability changes, we are focused on ensuring that the phytosanitary controls reflect actual risks to Great Britain. The risk assessment process follows the UK’s well established risk management methodology using our UK plant health risk register as our principal screening tool. Applying this evidence-based process to determine our lists of regulated plants, products and pests for the future has resulted in increased focus on the threats about which we really need to be concerned. For example, some pests that pose a risk only to citrus, rice and other tropical crops, which we do not grow, have been deregulated. This has positive impacts, as it allows our inspectors to focus their efforts on the higher-risk commodities about which we are concerned, such as Xylella hosts, and tree species such as plane, which we are really worried about. This approach means that items that have previously been subject to restrictions or prohibitions even though the risk is in fact negligible, such as mangos, curry leaves and so on, are now able to be imported into Great Britain free of restriction.

[Dr Luke Evans (Bosworth) (Con)]

It will not have escaped the Minister’s notice that we are actually in a pandemic, and protection and prevention for our environment before getting to that stage are really important. How robust does she believe the implementation of this legislation will be in ensuring that we are indeed as protected as we can be?

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[Victoria Prentis]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. These statutory instruments are broadly transferring rules into GB law, but we are able to use this moment in our history to ensure that they are better suited to us and the biosecurity risks that concern us. As he says, in the midst of a pandemic that takes on a special and added significance.

Protecting biosecurity is of enormous importance for any Government. It is important that we facilitate the import and movement of plant material, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) said earlier, but this must be done in a biosecure manner. That is why these operability amendments, with their focus on risks to GB, are so important. They establish our future plant health regime and ensure that the current phytosanitary protections, which are vital to protect our biosecurity, are maintained at the end of the transition period. I commend the draft regulations to the House.

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[Victoria Prentis]

I find that I am being asked by one hon. Gentleman to display my legal and obsessive statutory instrument skills and by another to assure him that I am not out of touch with farmers and will be going home to look after the sheep tonight. I can assure them that both those skillsets are very useful in a modern farming Minister.

The hon. Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner) made slightly rude comments about the length of my statutory instruments. I am afraid that these transitional SIs are necessarily long because we are simply amending the retained EU legislation. We are doing it in a way that genuinely makes it current, to reflect the risks to GB. The extensive instruments have been through the normal checking procedures, including several pairs of eyes’ checks by DEFRA and other Government lawyers—as the hon. Gentleman knows, I was one for 17 years—so I am fairly confident that they are good enough. They have been well scrutinised by the JCSI, on which I sat for a number of years, and the devolved Administrations, and the versions we are debating today include helpful amendments that were made by all those people, so I am fairly confident that the instruments are up to scratch. I am as confident as I think we can be. I accept, however, that they are long.

The hon. Gentleman asked some specific questions about replacing the oversight of the Commission. EU functions have already been incorporated into the UK-wide plant health risk group arrangements. Those functions include the auditing system of SANTE F and decision-making structures such as the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed technical committee. A sub-group of the plant health risk group will be responsible for all technical aspects of these audits. In addition, there is a national IT system, which is operational now, that replaces the EU notification and rapid alert system. The UK system has been backfilled with publicly available data from EU systems, so I am confident that the UK will be able to continue to benefit from that at the end of this year.

As I said earlier, from 1 January, GB is introducing a phased import regime for EU goods to maintain biosecurity and to keep trade as frictionless as possible. The phased EU import regime will allow time for trade to adapt to the new import requirements for EU goods. GB plant health authorities are undertaking significant recruitment to increase the number of plant health inspectors. The numbers have gone from about 200 inspectors employed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency to more than double that, and I believe the ambition is for 250 extra to be in place early next year. We have sufficient resources to meet demand from the turn of the year and to ensure minimal disruption to trade.

GB plant health services are currently reviewing their operating hours to ensure that biosecurity standards will continue to be met and strengthened in ways that support trade and smooth the flow of goods while minimising the burden on businesses. There has been enormous engagement with the horticultural industry on the planning for this, with individual operators and key stakeholder groups. Most recently, we have undertaken a series of feasibility sessions, with more than 300 participants on the Zoom, and equivalent export sessions. Alongside that, we are hosting a series of webinars—there was one earlier this week, I think—on the new plant health requirements for imports, exports and internal movement.

For goods imported from the EU, which the hon. Member for Angus raised, GB will be carrying out a phased implementation of import checks, which will be aligned to the risks posed by different regulated commodities. Lower-risk goods will receive a lower frequency of checks.

I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to this debate. In order to prepare for the end of this year, it is essential that we have the right legislation in place to continue to protect plant biosecurity while facilitating trade and movement of plants and plant material. I hope that hon. Members fully understand the need for these regulations, which ensure that existing regimes for safeguarding Britain’s biosecurity will continue to operate effectively at the end of this year by addressing plant health risks faced by GB rather than the EU. I commend them to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Exiting the European Union (Plant Health)

Resolved,

That the draft Plant Health (Phytosanitary Conditions) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 10 November, be approved.—(Victoria Prentis.)

Draft Import of, and Trade in, Animals and Animal Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 Draft Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Monday 30th November 2020 General Committees

[The Chair]

Before we begin, I remind Members to observe social distancing and to sit only in the places that are clearly marked. Hansard colleagues would be most grateful if Members could send any speaking notes to [e-mail].

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Import of, and Trade in, Animals and Animal Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

[The Chair]

With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

[Victoria Prentis]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson, even though I confess that many of us would quite like to be listening to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the Chamber. The draft Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and the draft Import of, and Trade in, Animals and Animal Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 were laid before the House on 2 November and 20 October respectively.

The first instrument amends our existing system of official controls on sanitary and phytosanitary imports to ensure that they work after the end of the transition period. It makes amendments to EU retained regulations governing official controls on imports to Great Britain of animals and animal products, plants and plant products, including food, and other imports relevant to the agrifood chain. The amendments set out in this instrument will allow regulations in this area to continue to be fully operable once the UK completes the transition period. They will allow us to continue to deliver controls and checks on all imports subject to SPS checks according to risk.

The second instrument makes amendments to ensure that provisions relating to the import of live animals, including horses, animal products, reproductive material used for animal breeding, and the non-commercial movement of pets continue to work at the end of this year. It also makes minor technical amendments to five previously made EU exit SIs and 30 retained EU instruments. It also revokes a previously made EU exit SI and eight retained EU instruments to ensure that our imports will continue to function at the end of this year.

The changes are, for example, to ensure that references to EU regulatory bodies become references to the Secretary of State or other appropriate authorities. Amendments also include changes to reflect the status of the European economic area as a third country and to introduce the Government’s phased approach to import controls on goods arriving from the EEA.

The Government previously announced that we will phase in border controls on imports from the UK beginning in January. That will prioritise flow at the border and give both businesses and industry longer to prepare for the introduction of full controls. We remain fully committed to the World Trade Organisation and our international trade obligations. The phased approach is temporary and pragmatic in order to support our international trade and to avoid border disruption. We will have controls in place for controlled goods from January 2021 and for all goods, both controlled and standard, in place from July next year. We have taken the decision to list the EEA to import live animals and animal products because, following an assessment of the EU’s SPS regime, with which we are of course very familiar, we do not believe that the risk will change on 1 January next year.

The statutory instruments will ensure that legislation to protect our biosecurity will continue to function in Great Britain after the transition period, and that we will continue to have a functioning imports system that guarantees our high standards of food and animal safety, while ensuring frictionless trade and movements. For the reasons I have set out, I commend the regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Prentis]

I will try to answer the questions in turn. On inland sites, which I think the hon. Gentleman asked about to start with, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has confirmed it will require two inland border control posts in England, both in Kent. One will be for Eurotunnel at Sevington, and another is required for the port of Dover.

On impact assessments, none was produced for the first SI as it maintains existing border controls and therefore does not introduce new policy. We have, however, estimated costs as a result of the policy being applied progressively more widely as a result of the phased introduction of border checks, and that is set out in the explanatory memorandum. The border operating model was published in October this year and sets out our phased introduction. I draw the hon. Gentleman’s attention to that document, and I am happy to share it with him later, if that helps.

The import of products, animals, food and feed computer system, which is being set up, will allow importers or agents to create import notification of consignments bound for Great Britain before arrival. Notifications will be received by port health authorities or the Animal and Plant Health Agency, which can then record checks on the system. I recently asked for an update on how that was progressing, and I was told, “Extremely well,” so I am happy to reassure the hon. Gentleman on that.

These statutory instruments are critical for ensuring a functioning imports regime at the end of the transition period. Without them, there would be a threat to Great Britain’s biosecurity and lack of clarity for industry. I therefore commend them to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

THE DRAFT OFFICIAL CONTROLS (ANIMALS, FEED AND FOOD, PLANT HEALTH ETC.) (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2020

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the draft Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.—(Victoria Prentis.)

Oral Answers to Questions

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Thursday 26th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mark Jenkinson (Workington) (Con)]

What steps he is taking to support zoos during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

In addition to the full range of financial support available to all businesses and employers, we have established an extra £100 million support fund for those who are facing severe financial difficulty, and the deadline for applications to the fund has been extended to the end of January.

[Sir David Amess]

On a recent visit to Chester zoo, I saw its excellent conservation work and learned at first hand about the remarkable way it is coping with the coronavirus pandemic. However, the zoo animal fund criteria for access seem to be very peculiar, because zoos seem to have to be on the verge of closure before they can get any money. Surely that is wrong. Will my hon. Friend look at those criteria again, please?

[Victoria Prentis]

We listened to concerns following the roll-out of the initial support scheme and we have made changes to reflect that. The zoos animal fund, which is simpler to apply for, is now open to zoos that have up to 12 weeks of reserves left. It can be applied for in advance of that and can include applications for essential planned maintenance.

[Mark Jenkinson]

As we have just heard, zoos have an important conservation role to play. The white-tailed eagle is listed in our 25-year environment plan as a species whose reintroduction we could support as we develop our nature recovery network. Cumbria is at the forefront of nature recovery, as we have a local nature recovery strategy pilot and, separately, we are in a group that has submitted a bid for feasibility work on the white-tailed eagle’s reintroduction. Will my hon. Friend meet me to discuss how her Department might assist with that proposal?

[Victoria Prentis]

The 25-year environment plan encourages the reintroduction of species such as the white-tailed eagle. I know that my hon. Friend is aware of the funding pots on offer, and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs officials would be very pleased to meet him and the project scheme to discuss what further action could be taken.

[Mr Speaker]

We go now to David Mundell, but I found that a very strange grouping.

Draft Veterinary Medicines and Residues (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 Draft Aquatic Animal Health and Alien Species in Aquaculture, Animals, and Marketing of Seed, Plant and Propagating Material (Legislative Functions and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2020 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Veterinary Medicines and Residues (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

[The Chair]

With this it will be convenient to discuss the draft Aquatic Animal Health and Alien Species in Aquaculture, Animals, and Marketing of Seed, Plant and Propagating Material (Legislative Functions and Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

[Victoria Prentis]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell, particularly—if I may say so—in your new slimline state. I have been gripped by social media—

[The Chair]

If we could just get back to the proceedings now.

[Victoria Prentis]

That is all I needed to say. The draft regulations were laid before the House on 2 November. Turning first to the veterinary medicines and residues regulations, veterinary medicines are tightly regulated in the UK. They are essential for the treatment of animals and ensuring animal welfare, but they can also present a risk to human health and the environment. If misused, they can affect human health directly or may enter the natural environment, causing long-lasting damage.

The existing UK Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 set out the requirements on the manufacture, authorisation, supply, possession, and administration of veterinary medicines in the UK. The statutory instrument before us addresses technical deficiencies in our veterinary medicines and residues surveillance legislation to ensure that it continues to operate effectively at the end of the transition period. For example, minor corrections are being made to the text to address references to EU membership, which are no longer accurate or appropriate. The changes are also needed to reflect the requirements of the Northern Ireland protocol, as well as to implement the Government’s commitment to ensuring unfettered market access for Northern Ireland businesses in relation to veterinary medicines.

The legal frameworks will continue to regulate veterinary medicines and to safeguard the wellbeing of our animals. The instrument does not diminish the high standards in the established veterinary medicines and residues surveillance regimes. I emphasise that the amendments in the instrument are to ensure operability and that the high safety standards we have in place will continue.

The second SI is a composite one, covering seven policy areas—aquatic animal health, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and animal by-products, livestock, zoonotic diseases, pet travel, alien and locally absent species in aquaculture, and seed, plants and propagating material. They have been grouped together purely to speed up the passage of these affirmative SIs before the end of the transition period.

The regulations transfer functions carried out by EU legislative bodies to the appropriate UK authorities. They also amend previously made EU exit statutory instruments to reflect the changes that took place at the end of last year and to implement the Northern Ireland protocol. The SI makes no major policy changes.

The instrument makes operability amendments to several pieces of secondary legislation. In particular, it will continue our robust sanitary and phytosanitary safeguard regimes in several crucial areas, give effect to our obligations under the Northern Ireland protocol and allow our new systems to operate at the end of the transition period. It will allow for the continued movement of pet animals and assistance dogs into Great Britain in a manner that protects our biosecurity as well as the health and welfare of the animals being moved.

We have taken the decision to list the EU to import live animals and animal products because, in biosecurity terms, we do not believe the risk will change on 1 January 2021. The SI will allow for decisions to be made about a country’s certification processes for plant reproductive material and whether they are equivalent to our own.

We have amended our legislation so that by the end of the transition period, the EU will become Part 1 listed for the non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. Practically, that means no change for EU travellers. We are maintaining the current health requirements on pet movements from the EU based on the unchanging disease risk at the beginning of next year, and to ensure that there is minimal impact on pet owners and users of assistance dogs who travel with their pets into GB under the EU pet travel scheme.

The instruments will make sure that legislation to ensure our biosecurity will continue to function in Great Britain after the transition period, and that we will continue to have a functioning pet travel scheme and imports system that guarantees our high standards of food and animal safety while ensuring frictionless trading and movements. For the reasons I have set out, I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Prentis]

The hon. Gentleman asked a large number of questions, and I will try to answer them as best I can. He asked about the light-touch transparency arrangements in veterinary medicines. A medicine that is legally on the market in Northern Ireland but not in GB may benefit from unfettered market access, providing that the following conditions are met. The marketing authorisation holder, if it is not already based in Northern Ireland, must have a dedicated place of establishment in Northern Ireland. The holder must provide the same application dossier and supporting information to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate as it would have provided to the European equivalent. The Northern Ireland dedicated place of establishment must provide access to any EU-based pharmacovigilance system that the marketing authorisation holder has in place. If the conditions are met and there are no safety concerns, a certificate will be issued to allow the product on to the GB market. In brief, we are trying to work in a joined-up, sensible and proportionate way as we come to the end of the transition period.

I am also grateful to the scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords. As the hon. Gentleman knows, I love secondary legislation, which is good because we spend a lot of our time doing it at the moment, and I spent many happy years on the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments. I feel that the questioners on the scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords did not completely understand the purpose of this statutory instrument, but I am happy to answer those points in any event.

As we said many times during the passage of the Agriculture Act 2020, any future trade agreements must respect the retained regulatory autonomy that we have brought over as a result of the withdrawal agreement. We will continue to protect public, animal and plant life and health, and reflect our existing high standards. The EU law banning the import and production of hormone-treated beef has been transposed into domestic law and will continue to operate in the UK at the end of the transition period. That will apply in all parts of the UK. Any changes would require legislation to be brought to Parliament. After the transition period, the Food Standards Agency and its equivalent in Scotland will continue to oversee food safety to ensure that all food imports comply with the UK’s high safety standards. You will be aware, Mr Mundell, of the changes made recently to the Agriculture Act that add an extra layer of scrutiny to that.

All current EU maximum residue levels will continue to apply in the UK from the end of the transition period. The methodology is set out in Commission regulation 2018/782, which now forms part of our retained EU law, with only very minor amendments for operability. There is nothing—I do love secondary legislation—that concerns me about our new regulatory system. I accept that it is complex, but it is also comprehensive.

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate—this may be of assistance to Committee members—has published extensive guidance on its information hub, which will help businesses prepare for the end of the transition period. This hub has, broadly, been very well received by the veterinary medicines industry. I recognise that this legislation, especially where it amends other legislation, is not always easy to read, or to follow. I suspect that that is one of the reasons why the VMD has engaged so strongly with its stakeholders to ensure that they understand it.

The hon. Gentleman’s question on pets is not exactly within the scope of this instrument, which relates to inbound travel of pets and guidance dogs to the UK, but as he has asked, I will answer. DEFRA has submitted its application for the UK to become a Part 1 listed country under Annex II of the EU pet travel regulations; we are currently in technical negotiations with the EU about this. We will do what we can, and we intend to make sensible, proportionate and biosecure changes in the regulations.

We have had a constructive and useful debate, and I commend the regulations to the Committee.

Question put.

Draft Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 Draft Food (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2020 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

[The Chair]

With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Food (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

[Victoria Prentis]

It is an enormous pleasure to serve under your chairmanship for the first time, Mr Davies. The draft Agricultural Products, Food and Drink (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 contain necessary amendments to EU agrifood, spirit drinks, wine and aromatised wine regulations to enable them to function in domestic law. The changes primarily concern geographical indication or GI schemes, but they extend to wine and spirit drink sector standards.

I first want to address the impact of the Northern Ireland protocol. For the duration of the protocol, the EU GI framework will apply in Northern Ireland. As such, most of this instrument has the territorial extent of Great Britain. However, these schemes will be administered and regulated by the UK Government, so they will generally be referred to as UK GI schemes.

GIs are a form of intellectual property protection for the names of food, drink and agricultural products with qualities attributable to the place they are produced or the traditional methods by which they are made, such as Scotch whisky, Welsh lamb and Melton Mowbray pork pies—[Hon. Members: “Hooray!”] It is a little early for a Melton Mowbray pork pie. Most of the amendments made by this instrument are to the retained EU regulations that govern GI schemes. They collectively convert the four EU GI schemes into a legal framework for the new schemes in Great Britain.

The framework will allow applications for GI protection to be made to the Secretary of State by both UK and international applicants. It will allow applications to be scrutinised and consulted on, and for the Secretary of State to take decisions on awarding new GIs. In doing so, we condense what was a two-stage application process to the Commission into a single, streamlined domestic process, which ought to be easier and quicker.

Once awarded GI status, a product name is then added to the relevant public GI register established by this instrument, meaning that the GI protection will formally take effect in Great Britain. From 1 January, all existing UK GIs and the EU GIs, which are protected through the withdrawal agreement, will be on our registers. These will be joined by international GI products protected through trade agreements.

This instrument removes the requirement for EU GI logos to be used by British producers and establishes the new domestic logos. I know, Chair, that we are not allowed to wave things around, but—

[Andrew Griffith (Arundel and South Downs) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend give way on that point?

[Victoria Prentis]

I would be delighted.

[Andrew Griffith]

I speak not only as the representative of Arundel and South Downs, but as the chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for wine of Great Britain. GIs are incredibly important both to allow consumers to make smart choices about country of origin and food or wine supply chains and to support a burgeoning and rapidly growing British industry that stretches across most parts of the kingdom. It already employs 11,000 people, with the aspiration, once we find our new way in the world, of employing many more people in a successful, green, sustainable British industry.

[Victoria Prentis]

I thank my hon. Friend. I understand his passion for GIs, as some truly delicious wine is produced in his constituency. The APPGs for wine of Great Britain and on geographically protected foods are doing really good work at the moment. I very much look forward to promoting our new GI schemes in the early part of next year.

To avoid burdening producers, we are introducing a three-year period before logo use becomes mandatory on GI products. The first instrument also includes a small number of non-GI amendments to EU wine and spirits sector rules. Those include the definition, composition and labelling of spirit drinks, and the use of wine labelling terms, experimental winemaking practices, accompanying documents and the registers maintained by wine operators.

Finally, the first instrument amends the domestic legislation that enables enforcement of the regulations. It makes separate amendments for GB and NI, to take account of the different regulations that will apply in each territory from 2021.

These rules collectively ensure that we have not only a fully functional GI framework, but one that enables and encourages our international reputation for quality food and drink to grow.

I turn now to the second SI, which concerns natural mineral waters and food information for consumers. The main purpose of this instrument, like so many SIs that we are dealing with at the moment, is to place food information for consumers and natural mineral waters rules on a legal footing that accounts for the Northern Ireland protocol, which obviously the legislation prepared for no deal at the end of last year could not do, as the Northern Ireland protocol at that point did not exist. This instrument also makes some minor technical amendments to retained direct EU law and domestic regulations, to ensure the operability of the legislation at the end of the transition period. It does not bring about a substantial change in policy. The retained EU regulations assure a high level of consumer protection in relation to food information so that consumers are not misled about their food, can make informed food choices and use food safely.

Both instruments have received the devolved Administrations’ consent and, for the reasons that I have set out, I commend them to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Prentis]

That sounds like an extremely interesting article. I look forward to finding it later. I am sure the hon. Gentleman and I can have a discussion while we wait for our SI debates this afternoon. I will try to answer as many of his questions as I can.

The first SI that we are discussing today is very long. It replaces 15 EU regulations and four different GI schemes. I accept that the legislation is complicated. In the first SI, there is certainly policy change. It very much lays the framework for setting up our new and, in my view, very exciting GI system.

To talk generally about the new policy, last week we had a webinar with about 130 producers, all of whom are raring to get going in the GI space. In future, there will be a one-stage application process. We are designing it with producers in a way that we hope will be as helpful as possible.

On the broader issues that have been raised, we very much hope that we will get a deal with the EU in the next week or two. As I said earlier, we will continue to recognise EU GIs. As I set out, we have a 21-month period of adjustment on labelling, and I will go through some of the labelling changes. The same basic rules will apply for logo use as under the EU schemes. Logo use will be mandatory under the agrifood schemes but optional under drinks schemes relating to wines and spirits—that is the same as it was under the EU schemes. GB producers of existing agrifood GIs will have a three-year period from 1 January until the use of the new logos becomes mandatory. New GB applicants for agrifood GI protection will need to start using the logos straightaway once their protection starts. It will be optional for NI producers that are protected under the UK schemes to use the UK logo, but they will of course continue to use the EU logos. We will endeavour to make the process as streamlined as possible for new NI producers that apply under both schemes.

[Daniel Zeichner]

The Minister has explained that very clearly. What she has not touched on is costs to producers. Can she say anything about that?

[Victoria Prentis]

We very much hope that the costs will be less than for the previous application process, which is partly why we are engaging so heavily with producers at the moment to find a system that suits everybody. It is not an easy issue, though. To have a GI is a big deal for a producer, and it should be. The application process will of course be relatively onerous, but we will try to ensure that it is as low cost for producers as possible.

[Daniel Zeichner]

This is an additional new cost, however one looks at it.

[Victoria Prentis]

No, the existing GIs will just be brought over into our system, so there are no new costs for producers there. If producers wish to sell in the GB market as well as in the EU market, as I said earlier, we are working hard to ensure that the two processes are streamlined, to minimise the cost to producers as much as we can. This is in a world where I hope GIs will be a much bigger deal for the UK. I am looking forward to boosting them and to working with producers as we seek to export much more food, and much more really high-quality food, than we do at the moment.

I think I have dealt with most of the hon. Gentleman’s points. Public consultations were held on natural mineral waters, food labelling policy and impact assessments in 2018, when we thought we might have a no-deal Brexit. Meetings were held with industry, and we had a great deal of feedback from stakeholders. As I said, the amendments made by the SI are mainly technical changes in order to make the regulations operable, so we did not feel that any additional consultation was needed. With that in mind, I recommend that we approve the two instruments.

Question put and agreed to.

DRAFT FOOD (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2020

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the draft Food (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020—(Victoria Prentis.)

Exiting the European Union (Agriculture)

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Monday 23rd November 2020 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the draft Common Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 19 October, be approved.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

With this we will take the following motion:

That the draft Common Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 19 October, be approved.

[Victoria Prentis]

Both these statutory instruments amend retained EU legislation relating to the common organisation of agricultural markets and domestic secondary legislation relating to that area. The first instrument also makes some provision in respect of organic production that will ensure the operability of retained EU law. I should make it clear that the amendments made by the instruments are technical in nature. They do not introduce new policy but instead maintain continuity as far as possible.

The aim of the instruments is to ensure that the relevant retained EU legislation is fully operable at the end of the transition period. The retained EU legislation was previously made operable to the UK as a whole on the basis that the UK left the EU without an agreement. However, as we have left the EU with the withdrawal agreement in place, the retained legislation now needs to be updated to reflect this—in particular, the terms of the Northern Ireland protocol. As such, the majority of the amendments made by these instruments relate to the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol. For example, they might remove references to Northern Ireland or replace UK references with Great Britain references, as Northern Ireland will of course remain aligned with the EU under the protocol.

Amendments are also being made to a small number of transitional provisions, either to align them with the Government’s border operating model, which introduces new border controls for the movement of goods between GB and the EU in three stages up to July 2021, or because they were introduced on the basis that the UK would leave without a deal and are therefore no longer required. Those provisions concern the import of hops and hop products, notification requirements for the import of beef and veal from third countries, and marketing requirements for hatching eggs and chicks imported from the EU. All other transitional provisions will be retained, with references to “exit day” replaced with references to “IP completion day”.

As Members are aware, agriculture is a devolved policy area and of great importance to all parts of the UK. Although one of the instruments that we are debating is reserved, we worked closely with the devolved Administrations in producing both instruments, and they have given their consent as necessary.

These statutory instruments will help to provide necessary continuity for stakeholders and beneficiaries. They will ensure that retained EU legislation relating to the common organisation of the markets and organic production functions correctly after the end of the transition period, and that we have an operable legal framework that supports farmers and traders and delivers continuity. I urge Members to agree to the amendments proposed in these regulations.

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Prentis]

I thank the hon. Members for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Luke Pollard) and for Gordon (Richard Thomson) for their contributions. They asked a large number of questions, and if I do not answer them all, I apologise; it is merely an oversight, and I am happy to take them up offline outside the Chamber.

On the poultry meat issue, I am always happy to confirm that there is no possibility of chlorine-washed chicken entering our food chain unless this House votes for that to be the case, and I really do not see that happening—do you, Mr Deputy Speaker? As the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport said, the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the other place drew the other place’s attention to the Department’s explanation on poultry meat. I apologise; our explanation did not provide sufficient context on the checks relating to poultry meat marketing standards, and that might have caused concern because it was not sufficiently clear. The reason is that on these particular operational indicators, no third country currently uses the standards, so there is no current need to have an operational enforceable system for checking that they are there. That is the reason that that has not been an issue to date. I assure all Members that although the specific matters are not covered by these regulations, the Government remain absolutely committed to high standards, as we said many times during the passage of the Agriculture Bill.

The difference between the poultry meat transition period, which is 12 months, and the fruit and vegetable transition period, which is two years, is to enable us, in a very pragmatic and practical way, to upgrade our IT systems and recruit the right sort of inspectors to do the checks. We are working closely with the EU Commission on that, and nobody should be afraid of the difference between the two. This is merely a pragmatic and appropriate response to an operational issue.

On Animal and Plant Health Agency inspectors, again I would not read too much into the word “calibre”. These are specialist staff, so of course they have to be of the right type. We are working hard to increase their numbers at the moment.

On border control posts, we have always been clear that following the Northern Ireland protocol there would be an expansion of facilities at some entry points where certain controls already take place. We are very much in touch with the Northern Ireland Minister. Indeed, I spoke to him twice last week and I expect to do so repeatedly in the next few weeks.

On the devolved Administrations, we have worked collaboratively with them on these statutory instruments. We have sought formal agreement from them on areas that intersect with devolved policy.

There are of course many ways of describing our produce. We frequently describe produce as being from Oxfordshire, for example. In brief, we expect to use the different terms GB, UK and UK(NI) following Brexit, but this is a very complicated issue. As we reach the end of the transition period, we will set out far more detail about labelling. There is some context in these statutory instruments, but not a great deal that needs to concern the devolved Administrations at this point on the labelling front. Discussions with the devolved Administrations have confirmed our mutual understanding of the UK’s alignment on marketing standards. They have always been very keen to align them, so we can work the internal market properly following the end of the transition period.

On lessons learned, as I said in my opening remarks the good thing that happened last year is that we have left the EU with the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol in place. The statutory instruments, which were done in something of a hurry at the end of last year, included the whole of the UK instead of carving out Northern Ireland, because the Northern Ireland protocol did not exist at that point. It is true that in the rush to have a functioning statute book for the proposed exit day at the end of last year, mistakes were made and references were missed. I think it is right that we take the opportunity to correct those mistakes wherever possible and that is what we have done.

To end, producers and consumers will be well served by the passing of these statutory instruments. They help to ensure that retained EU legislation, which protects our standards and supports our farming industries, remains operable at the end of the transition period. They are technical, but nevertheless crucial in ensuring the effectiveness and continuity of that retained legislation. I therefore commend them to the House.

Question put and agreed to.

Exiting the European Union (Agriculture)

Resolved,

That the draft Common Organisation of the Markets in Agricultural Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, which were laid before this House on 19 October, be approved.—(Victoria Prentis.)

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. The sitting is suspended for three minutes.

Draft Common Fisheries Policy (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Wednesday 18th November 2020 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Common Fisheries Policy (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. These regulations were laid under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. As with previous EU exit fisheries statutory instruments, the technical amendments made by this SI will ensure that retained EU law provides UK law with a mechanism that is both effective and enforceable. This SI does not make any policy changes to retained EU law, and no change is expected in how the fishing industry conducts itself.

The amendments extend and apply to the United Kingdom. Fisheries management in the UK is largely devolved, so this SI has been developed and drafted in close dialogue with the devolved Administrations, which have given their consent. That ensures an approach that is consistent with both the devolution settlement and existing systems of fisheries management.

The SI makes amendments to retained EU law in three policy areas: discards, quota and data collection. Turning first to discards, the changes implement the requirement to land all catches of species that are subject to catch limits and to count them against quota unless they are specifically exempted. The amendments replace references to EU bodies with references to the relevant UK bodies and remove the requirement to report data to the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries—an EU body. The UK will of course still ensure that the relevant data is collated and reviewed by a replacement scientific body that we are currently developing. Our discards policy will of course continue to be scientifically based.

Previous EU exit SIs made in March and October 2019 made discard plan regulations that were operable in retained EU law at that time. However, the EU has since introduced new versions of the regulations, so because UK fishermen are already working to the standards in the new versions, we felt it was important to mirror current EU law, which is partly why we are updating the regulations.

Secondly, the SI will amend the EU’s 2020 total allowable catch and quota regulation in retained EU law as well as revoking the 2019 version. As we become an independent coastal state in 2021, we will move from having UK quota set at an EU level to the Secretary of State determining the UK quota. These regulations therefore replace EU references with the relevant UK ones to ensure that rules continue to apply effectively to UK vessels. One example is sea bass fisheries, where we are amending the regulations to prohibit UK vessels from fishing for sea bass in certain areas to match the prohibition that exists for EU vessels. We are again changing previous EU exit SIs to remove some earlier amendments that apply to regulations that have now been changed by the EU.

Thirdly, the SI makes amendments to the data collection framework. The regulations require EU member states’ vessels to conduct certain surveys at sea. We are removing the list of surveys and replacing it with a reference to the UK’s national data collection work plan. Without that amendment, UK vessels may inadvertently be required to conduct surveys in areas that are no longer relevant to the UK and are outside our exclusive economic zone.

Finally, as I already mentioned, this SI amends several previous fisheries EU exit SIs because changes have been made by the EU since they were passed by this House. We are therefore updating this SI to reflect those changes. Previous amendments to the retained EU law versions of regulations implementing the European maritime and fisheries fund are also removed by this SI, because the withdrawal agreement contains specific rules that will apply to the EMFF during the period when the fund will wound up and closed.

In short, this SI makes amendments that will assist with the smooth running of fisheries policy in accordance with the Fisheries Bill, which we hope will shortly become the Fisheries Act. I commend the regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Victoria Prentis]

I am delighted to reconfirm the Government’s commitment to sustainable fishing. There is no weakening in our policy at all. Achieving healthy fish stocks is the first step to achieving a vibrant commercial and recreational fishing industry.

The Fisheries Bill, which we hope will become an Act later this week, sets out our commitment to sustainable fishing, The joint fisheries statement, which will be drafted and adopted by the UK Government and the devolved Administrations, will set out the policies in more detail, enabling us to achieve the fisheries objectives that are set out in clause 1 of the Bill. The regulation on total allowable catches is incorporated not in this SI but—much better than that—in the Fisheries Bill itself. The comparable UK provisions are in clauses 2 and 26, and the fisheries management plans will put flesh on the bones of those policy intentions. We are determined to achieve or maintain sustainable levels for the stocks that are covered, and there is no need to duplicate that intention in this SI.

The SI merely ensures that retained EU fisheries law is effective and enforceable after the end of the transition period. It tidies up our previous SIs to ensure that the UK statute book will not contain amendments to regulations that are no longer part of EU law. At the end of this year, EU law will cease to apply directly to the UK, with retained EU law taking its place, and the statute book needs to be correct to ensure that that important change can take place smoothly. The SI is a key part of that preparation and will help us to meet our commitment to deliver a prosperous and sustainable fishing industry for future generations. I therefore commend the regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Avian Influenza: Kept Birds

Victoria Prentis Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2020 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Victoria Prentis)]

High pathogenicity H5N8 avian influenza has been circulating in Europe in recent weeks. There have now been two diagnosed cases in poultry in the UK, in Cheshire and Herefordshire, as well as several findings in wild birds in south-west England. The risk of further H5N8 incursion in wild birds across the UK remains high and has recently been raised to medium for poultry. We will continue to undertake comprehensive disease surveillance over the coming weeks and months.

Public Health England advises that the risk to public health is very low and the Food Standards Agency has said there is no food safety risk for UK consumers.

In response to the risk to poultry and other captive birds, the Department has put in place a statutory avian influenza prevention zone. The zone requires keepers across the country to take additional steps to introduce enhanced biosecurity measures and to protect poultry and other captive birds from contact with wild birds. Some of these measures apply to all keepers, including those with small flocks or pet birds. They include:

cleansing and disinfection of equipment, vehicles and footwear when moving between bird premises;

effective vermin control;

reducing movements of people to the essentials for the birds’ welfare, collecting eggs and feeding;

keeping records of poultry, captive birds and egg movements;

ensuring that buildings are maintained and that repairs are carried out without delay where

water or other contamination may penetrate.

The zone will remain in place indefinitely but will be kept under review and amended as necessary in the light of any changes in circumstances. We have also made changes to licensing arrangements to prohibit events such as bird shows.

Given that the disease is spreading across Europe, the introduction of this zone has been co-ordinated with the devolved Administrations and Scottish and Welsh Governments are introducing similar measures. Northern Ireland officials, who have been in the discussions, are reviewing their risk assessment which will inform their next steps.

We have tried and tested procedures for dealing with such animal disease outbreaks and a strong track record of controlling and eliminating previous outbreaks of avian flu in the UK. Our actions are in line with established practice and with the processes followed in previous years. Avian influenza prevention zones, for example, were introduced in England, Scotland and Wales in 2018. We are working closely with operational partners, devolved Administration colleagues and the industry.

The detections of H5N8 in poultry or captive birds have been dealt with effectively by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. We have taken robust action, imposing zones of up to 10 km (six miles) around infected premises to limit the risk of disease spreading, and culling birds humanely and to high biosecurity standards.

Looking forward, the Department will keep the avian influenza prevention zone under review and will consider amendments to reflect any changes to the level of risk of incursion to wild birds and poultry as well as any further scientific, veterinary and ornithological advice.

We have not yet required mandatory housing of all poultry and captive birds as part of our response to the disease risk. However, such a measure remains under active review as a potentially important step.

We continue to urge bird keepers to be vigilant for any signs of disease, ensure they are maintaining good biosecurity on their premises, seek prompt advice from their vet and report suspect disease to APHA (as they must do by law).

We strongly advise keepers to register on the poultry register so as to receive notifications and disease alerts. This is mandatory for all those with flocks of over 50 birds. Registration is easy and can be found at: www.gov.uk/ guidance/bird-gatherings-licences.

[HCWS576]