Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure free movement of cultivated plant biodiversity.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
UK plant health controls take a risk-based approach informed by the evidence and balance ensuring robust biosecurity with the facilitation of trade. The threat from plant pests and diseases is significant and growing due to globalisation and climate change.
High plant health and biosecurity standards keep harmful pests and diseases, like Xylella fastidiosa, out of the UK, benefiting both the horticultural trade and the environment in the long term. The UK has some of the highest plant health and biosecurity standards in the world, and we have been clear we will not compromise on these standards. They are integral to supporting and protecting the horticultural industry as well as sustaining our food supply and natural environment.
The UK Plant Health Risk Group is continuously reviewing risks to plant biosecurity and identifying actions needed to mitigate the most significant threats. These include keeping our regulatory regime up to date, carrying out focused surveillance and inspections, contingency planning, research, and awareness raising, as well as identifying areas where intervention would not be helpful or justified.
Further, the UK is a member of both:
The EU has granted equivalence to the UK for agricultural seed (excluding production of vegetable seed), fruit and vegetable propagating material, and FRM, ensuring these commodities may be marketed in the EU.
The UK Plant Health Information Portal has published Defra guidance to importers and exporters of plant material to support trade facilitation.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
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 to consult on the ending of farrowing crates for pigs in context of the EU Commission's announcement of intention to propose legislation in that area.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to exploring the phasing out of farrowing crates, supporting the industry to do so in a way which underpins UK food production and does not have unintended animal welfare or business impacts.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ban bottom trawling and the use of other bottom towed fishing gear in all offshore marine protected areas on a whole-site basis, rather than on a feature-based approach.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Each Marine Protected Area (MPA) protects specific features, whether that is a particular species or a variety of different habitats. We have recently consulted on five candidate Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). HPMAs would have the highest level of protection in English waters and would take a whole-site approach.
98 MPAs in English inshore waters already have byelaws in place to protect sensitive features from damaging fishing activities and the first four offshore byelaws have now been established. A Call for Evidence on byelaws in 13 more MPAs has recently closed. Byelaws are developed using an evidence-led process to determine what measures are required to protect sites. Site by site assessments are carried out to tailor management measures and to avoid unnecessary restrictions on fishing. Only fishing activities which could damage the protected features of an MPA require management, such as trawling on the seabed. We aim to have protection in place for all our offshore MPAs by 2024.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy not to set catch limits for any stocks that are higher than those recommended by scientific advice in fisheries negotiations with the EU, Norway and North East Atlantic coastal states in the next year.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The United Kingdom advocates an approach towards setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) which is founded on the best available scientific advice and which will maintain or rebuild sustainable fish stocks and fisheries. In addition, for a number of target stocks a further key consideration when setting the TACs is their interaction with other stocks caught in the same mixed fishery.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to bring forward regulations to introduce the compulsory microchipping of owned cats.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Our intention is to introduce a new, single set of microchipping regulations by the end of the year, which will incorporate changes to the Microchipping of Dogs (England) Regulations and add the new requirement for compulsory microchipping of cats.
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review whether the requirement in The Bathing Water Regulations 2013 that sampling must be carried out between 15 May and 30 September should be expanded to all year round bathing water sampling.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
My officials are currently undertaking a review of bathing water policy in England.