Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the White Paper, The Future Relationship Between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Cm. 9593, published on 12 July 2018, what remaining frictions there will be for (a) exporters and (b) importers.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The UK is proposing a common rulebook for goods, covering only those rules necessary to provide for frictionless trade at the border. UK firms could continue to manufacture products for export that meet the regulatory requirements of third countries.
The UK has also proposed the business-friendly Facilitated Customs Arrangement, which would see the UK mirroring the EU’s customs approach to ensure all goods have complied with EU customs processes - thus removing the need for customs processes between the UK and the EU.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs have been imported into the UK via the Pet Travel Scheme in each year since its introduction.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK fully harmonised with the EU Pet Travel Scheme requirements in 2012. Data regarding the number of dogs entering Great Britain under the scheme from 2012-2017 can be found below.
Year | Dogs |
2012 | 139643 |
2013 | 152075 |
2014 | 155444 |
2015 | 164836 |
2016 | 275876 |
2017 | 287016 |
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs have been imported using the Balai Directive in each year since its introduction; and if he will publish the number of dogs imported from each country of origin for each of those same years.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK fully harmonised with the requirements of the Balai Directive for dog movements in 2012. The data for dog imports under the Balai Directive from 2012 to 2017 can be found in the attached Annex.
This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). In some cases imports are recorded on TRACES as ‘Canis familiaris / Felis catus’, so APHA is unable to distinguish between cat or dog imports. These are included in the table in the column ‘Mixed’.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the White Paper, The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, Cm. 9593, published on 12 July 2018, what types of goods will be excluded from the proposed Facilitated Customs Arrangement with the EU.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Facilitated Customs Arrangement (FCA) would remove the need for customs processes between the UK and the EU, while allowing the UK to set its own tariffs for goods imported from non-EU countries.
Where a good reaches the UK border, and the destination can be robustly demonstrated by a trusted trader, it will pay the UK tariff if it is destined for the UK and the EU tariff if it is destined for the EU. This is most likely to be relevant to finished goods.
Where a good reaches the UK border and the destination cannot be robustly demonstrated at the point of import, it will pay the higher of the UK or EU tariff. Where the good’s destination is later identified to be a lower tariff jurisdiction, it would be eligible for a repayment from the UK Government equal to the difference between the two tariffs. This is most likely to be relevant to intermediate goods.
The government is seeking to maximise the number of traders who will not need to interact with a voluntary repayment mechanism. It is estimated up to 96 per cent of UK goods trade would be most likely to pay the correct or no tariff upfront.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many puppies were seized at the ports of (a) Dover and (b) Folkestone and placed in quarantine under the Puppy Pilot scheme in each month between 1 December 2017 and 30 June 2018.
Answered by George Eustice
The number of puppies seized and quarantined at Dover and Folkestone under the Puppy Pilot from 1 December 2017 to 30 June 2018 are as follows:
| Puppies quarantined | |
Month | Dover | Folkestone |
Dec-17 | 20 | 3 |
Jan-18 | 5 | 0 |
Feb-18 | 12 | 0 |
Mar-18 | 5 | 0 |
Apr-18 | 2 | 1 |
May-18 | 5 | 46 |
Jun-18 | 2 | 0 |
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made in establishing the largest marine sanctuaries in the southern oceans; and whether those marine sanctuaries remain one of the primary goals of his Department’s Blue Belt policy.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK is a leading advocate for marine protection across the Southern Ocean. The UK secured agreement for the first Marine Protected Area (MPA) designated by the international Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and we strongly supported the Ross Sea region MPA, which was agreed in 2016. The UK is a co-proponent for MPA proposals in the Weddell Sea and in East Antarctica, both of which will be presented to the next CCAMLR meeting in October for adoption. We are also playing a leading role in developing an MPA proposal for the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Blue Belt initiative is primarily focused on British waters around the UK Overseas Territories and we remain committed to protecting 4m square kilometres of UK waters by 2020. South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands and the British Antarctic Territory both fall within the CCAMLR Convention Area, and the UK therefore works within CCAMLR to underpin protection measures implemented within our own waters.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans for semi-wild ponies living in areas that are derogated under the Equine Identification Regulations, and which are micro-chipped and identified by an identification document under article 7 of Commission Regulation 504/2008 or article 13 of Commission Implementing Regulation 2015/262, to be included in the central equine database as eligible for slaughter for human consumption; and when he plans to commence that process.
Answered by George Eustice
The Central Equine Database will include details of all equines with UK passports. Work to include those semi-wild ponies who are subsequently issued with UK passports will commence shortly.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands marine protected area is legally designated as a fully no-take area.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands sustainable use MPA, established to deliver defined conservation outcomes, covers 86% of the maritime zone. No commercial fishing licences are granted across the remaining 14% of the maritime zone.
There are a number of legal provisions in place for the effective management and conservation of the South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands sustainable use MPA including: no-take zones from the coast to 12 nautical miles around Shag Rocks and South Georgia and 3 nautical miles from the South Sandwich Islands coast covering 2%; an additional pelagic no-take zone extending 12 nautical miles South Sandwich Islands coast; total ban on commercial bottom trawling; depth restrictions on fishing for the Marine Stewardship Council certified toothfish fishery protecting 92% of the sea floor habitats; and prohibitions on krill fishing during the summer breeding period (1 November to 31 March).
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many kilometres of the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands marine protected area are legally designated as fully no-take areas.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands sustainable use MPA, established to deliver defined conservation outcomes, covers 1.074 million km2. No commercial fishing licences are granted across the remaining 166,207 km2 of the maritime zone.
There are a number of legal provisions in place for the effective management and conservation of the South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands sustainable use MPA. There are approximately 20,500 km2 of full no-take zones; 18,000 km2 of additional pelagic no-take zones; prohibitions of long-line fishing across 989,000 km2; and a complete ban on commercial bottom trawling.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands marine protected area is permanently closed to krill fishing.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands sustainable use MPA, which covers 86% of the maritime zone, permits sustainable, highly precautionary fishing activities to take place. No commercial fishing licences are granted across the remaining 14% of the maritime zone.
There are permanent pelagic no-take zone around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, from the coast out to 12 nautical miles. Through the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, krill fishing is restricted around South Sandwich Islands to 15% of the scientifically determined total allowable catch for the region, deemed highly precautionary. In addition to these international measures domestic regulations also prohibit fishing during the breeding period of the krill-eating penguins, seals and other natural predators and natural exclusion by sea ice in winter further restricts human activity.