Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to change the requirement for ducks to be swabbed before each movement and instead require only a visual inspection.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra requires assurance that birds, poultry products or materials associated with their keeping are not affected by avian influenza prior to them being moved out of disease control zones. Testing for avian influenza prior to movement is not required outside disease control zones.
Ducks can be sub-clinically infected with avian influenza and clinical inspection alone would not provide sufficient evidence that birds were not infected hence swabbing and negative results from diagnostic testing undertaken at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) avian influenza national reference laboratory are required prior to each movement as a condition of a movement licence being granted. However, we do not require testing of day-old ducklings prior to movement because we can rely on the success of hatching of a batch of ducks to indicate whether avian influenza is present in the eggs.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department are taking to improve the processing time of payments made to farms affected by Avian Influenza.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Outbreaks of avian influenza in both kept and wild birds continue to occur at an unprecedented scale across Europe and the UK with cases continuing to be confirmed into year two of the outbreak for the first time. We recognise that these outbreaks are very distressing for the individual poultry farmers that are affected.
Compensation paid for birds culled by HM Government for disease control purposes is designed to promote prompt reporting of suspicion of disease and is only payable for healthy birds as set out in the Animal Health Act 1981. There is no compensation available for sick birds or birds that have died. Compensation is not paid for consequential losses, including business interruption caused by control measures, nor for eggs or poultry meat. Compensation is also not paid for other things that have to be seized because they pose a risk of transmitting disease.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) makes its assessment of the disease status of the birds based on clinical inspection and veterinary judgment. On 28 October we announced a new package of measures to support domestic producers with the impacts of avian influenza. This included changes to the compensation scheme (effective from 1 October).
Compensation will now be linked to decisions taken at the start of planned culling rather than at the end. Such that APHA’s assessment of the health of the birds to be culled will now be made shortly before the culling begins or within 48 hours of a decision to cull the birds being made whichever is shorter. This will allow us to give earlier certainty about entitlement to compensation, better reflect the impact of outbreaks on premises and lead to swifter payments to help stem any cash flow pressures. The amount of compensation is established by APHA using the relevant valuation rate card (or for specialist stock by a specialist valuer). The valuation rate cards are updated by APHA five times per year (in November, January, March, June and September) to ensure rates are in line with average market values for the types of birds.
In addition, in consultation with the Food Standards Agency, an easement to marketing rules was introduced in England on 28 October. The measures mean that farmers who breed turkeys, geese, ducks or capons for their meat will have the option to slaughter birds early, and to freeze them, which can then be defrosted and sold to consumers as whole birds, stuffed crowns or 2-3 bird roasts between the period 28 November and 31 December 2022. Products will also need to be properly labelled and accompanied by in-store signage and online information for customers. This option is being introduced to give producers certainty over business planning. The Welsh Government announced a similar concession on 3 November.
We produce over 11 million turkeys in the UK every year. Over the Christmas period approximately 8 million turkeys, 200,000 geese and 100,000 ducks are sold to some of the highest standards in the world. Around 50% of these are usually sold frozen. There is no immediate threat to the food supply chain as a result of the current outbreak, with the introduction of the above measure helping mitigate any potential risks to the supply of seasonal poultry products for the Christmas market.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department have plans to provide support for poultry farms following a cull as a result of Avian Influenza.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Outbreaks of avian influenza in both kept and wild birds continue to occur at an unprecedented scale across Europe and the UK with cases continuing to be confirmed into year two of the outbreak for the first time. We recognise that these outbreaks are very distressing for the individual poultry farmers that are affected.
Compensation paid for birds culled by HM Government for disease control purposes is designed to promote prompt reporting of suspicion of disease and is only payable for healthy birds as set out in the Animal Health Act 1981. There is no compensation available for sick birds or birds that have died. Compensation is not paid for consequential losses, including business interruption caused by control measures, nor for eggs or poultry meat. Compensation is also not paid for other things that have to be seized because they pose a risk of transmitting disease.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) makes its assessment of the disease status of the birds based on clinical inspection and veterinary judgment. On 28 October we announced a new package of measures to support domestic producers with the impacts of avian influenza. This included changes to the compensation scheme (effective from 1 October).
Compensation will now be linked to decisions taken at the start of planned culling rather than at the end. Such that APHA’s assessment of the health of the birds to be culled will now be made shortly before the culling begins or within 48 hours of a decision to cull the birds being made whichever is shorter. This will allow us to give earlier certainty about entitlement to compensation, better reflect the impact of outbreaks on premises and lead to swifter payments to help stem any cash flow pressures. The amount of compensation is established by APHA using the relevant valuation rate card (or for specialist stock by a specialist valuer). The valuation rate cards are updated by APHA five times per year (in November, January, March, June and September) to ensure rates are in line with average market values for the types of birds.
In addition, in consultation with the Food Standards Agency, an easement to marketing rules was introduced in England on 28 October. The measures mean that farmers who breed turkeys, geese, ducks or capons for their meat will have the option to slaughter birds early, and to freeze them, which can then be defrosted and sold to consumers as whole birds, stuffed crowns or 2-3 bird roasts between the period 28 November and 31 December 2022. Products will also need to be properly labelled and accompanied by in-store signage and online information for customers. This option is being introduced to give producers certainty over business planning. The Welsh Government announced a similar concession on 3 November.
We produce over 11 million turkeys in the UK every year. Over the Christmas period approximately 8 million turkeys, 200,000 geese and 100,000 ducks are sold to some of the highest standards in the world. Around 50% of these are usually sold frozen. There is no immediate threat to the food supply chain as a result of the current outbreak, with the introduction of the above measure helping mitigate any potential risks to the supply of seasonal poultry products for the Christmas market.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support poultry farmers affected by the 2022 outbreak of Avian Influenza.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Outbreaks of avian influenza in both kept and wild birds continue to occur at an unprecedented scale across Europe and the UK with cases continuing to be confirmed into year two of the outbreak for the first time. We recognise that these outbreaks are very distressing for the individual poultry farmers that are affected.
Compensation paid for birds culled by HM Government for disease control purposes is designed to promote prompt reporting of suspicion of disease and is only payable for healthy birds as set out in the Animal Health Act 1981. There is no compensation available for sick birds or birds that have died. Compensation is not paid for consequential losses, including business interruption caused by control measures, nor for eggs or poultry meat. Compensation is also not paid for other things that have to be seized because they pose a risk of transmitting disease.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) makes its assessment of the disease status of the birds based on clinical inspection and veterinary judgment. On 28 October we announced a new package of measures to support domestic producers with the impacts of avian influenza. This included changes to the compensation scheme (effective from 1 October).
Compensation will now be linked to decisions taken at the start of planned culling rather than at the end. Such that APHA’s assessment of the health of the birds to be culled will now be made shortly before the culling begins or within 48 hours of a decision to cull the birds being made whichever is shorter. This will allow us to give earlier certainty about entitlement to compensation, better reflect the impact of outbreaks on premises and lead to swifter payments to help stem any cash flow pressures. The amount of compensation is established by APHA using the relevant valuation rate card (or for specialist stock by a specialist valuer). The valuation rate cards are updated by APHA five times per year (in November, January, March, June and September) to ensure rates are in line with average market values for the types of birds.
In addition, in consultation with the Food Standards Agency, an easement to marketing rules was introduced in England on 28 October. The measures mean that farmers who breed turkeys, geese, ducks or capons for their meat will have the option to slaughter birds early, and to freeze them, which can then be defrosted and sold to consumers as whole birds, stuffed crowns or 2-3 bird roasts between the period 28 November and 31 December 2022. Products will also need to be properly labelled and accompanied by in-store signage and online information for customers. This option is being introduced to give producers certainty over business planning. The Welsh Government announced a similar concession on 3 November.
We produce over 11 million turkeys in the UK every year. Over the Christmas period approximately 8 million turkeys, 200,000 geese and 100,000 ducks are sold to some of the highest standards in the world. Around 50% of these are usually sold frozen. There is no immediate threat to the food supply chain as a result of the current outbreak, with the introduction of the above measure helping mitigate any potential risks to the supply of seasonal poultry products for the Christmas market.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help contain the 2022 outbreak of Avian Influenza.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s objective in tackling any outbreak of avian influenza is to eradicate the disease as quickly as possible from the UK poultry and captive-bird population and regain UK World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) disease-free status. Defra’s approach is set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain supported by the Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales.
Defra’s approach to avian influenza considers the latest ornithological, epidemiological, veterinary and other scientific advice. Current policy reflects our experience of responding to past outbreaks of exotic animal disease and is in line with international standards of best practice for disease control.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to increase the speed of issuing poultry movement licenses in Avian Influenza zones.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s policy on movement and licensing both from infected premises and within disease control zones surrounding infected premises are set out in the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain and Defra’s Contingency Plan for Exotic Notifiable Diseases of Animals in England. In summary, to prevent further disease spread certain movements of poultry, other captive birds, eggs, poultry products or materials associated with their keeping, or mammals from or to premises where poultry or other captive birds are kept, are only permitted within disease control zones or from premises where avian influenzas has been confirmed when licenced.
All bird keepers in disease control zones have the opportunity to apply for movement licences for some specific low risk movements from disease control zones, as do keepers on infected premises with regard to the movement of animals (excluding birds) from the infected premises.
To improve the efficiency with which movement licenses can be assessed and where possible issued, in February 2022 the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s online licensing service was launched. The licensing service enables users to check the status of their application, add further information in support of their application and download issued licences. However, all license applications are assessed on the basis of a veterinary risk assessment and licence applications must be made at least 5 days before the license needs to be used, to enable these assessments to be undertaken. All businesses have a contingency plan for responding both to disease outbreaks on their premises and in the event that they are located in a disease control zone.
To reduce the administrative burden on bird keepers, general licenses have also been made available for a number of low risk activities. General licences allow a movement or activity that would otherwise be prohibited. If a keeper is able to comply with all the requirements of the general license, they can rely on the general licence as providing authority for the movement or activity and do not need to apply for a specific license.
Licences for movements of poultry, other captive birds, eggs, poultry products or materials associated with their keeping are not required outside of disease control zones or from any Captive Bird (Monitoring) Controlled Zone. On the 27 October 2022 amendments to the Avian Influenza Order No. 2 came into force, which brought the definition of “poultry” and “non-commercial premises” into alignment with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) definitions. These amendments facilitate the use of captive bird (monitoring) controlled zones (where movement licenses are not required) in England for non-commercial lower risk premises where poultry or captive birds which are kept as pets but also produce eggs.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to promote greater food sustainability in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Farming in England is now going through the biggest change in a generation and government’s approach to working with the farming sector is also changing. We’re improving our policies and services to make them more effective, fairer, more flexible, more accessible and more workable for farmers.
We are introducing policies that work for farm businesses, food production and the environment. Food is still the primary purpose of farming, and always will be. The Food Strategy includes plans that will support farmers to boost home-grown fruit and vegetable production, and encourage people to buy more locally-sourced, high-welfare food. The Food Strategy identifies new opportunities to make the food system healthier, more sustainable, more resilient and more accessible for those across England. It sets out how we will deliver a sustainable, nature-positive food system that provides choice and access to high quality products that support healthier and sustainable diets for all. It launches the Food Data Transparency Partnership to improve sustainability data for the food system.
Farmers also play a crucial role in protecting and enhancing the natural environment. If we want farming and food production to be resilient and sustainable over the long term, then farming and nature can and must go hand in hand.
We are providing farmers with two ways of receiving payments: one-off grants and ongoing schemes. Farmers can pick and choose from a range of grants and ongoing payments to find a package that works for them.
Everything we’re offering contributes to our 3 related goals: supporting viable businesses, maintaining food production at its current level, and achieving environment, climate and animal health, welfare outcomes.
Over the next three years, we will spend £2.5 billion on payments to farmers through the new Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship and its successor Local Nature Recovery, and continue to fund existing Environmental Stewardship agreements.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to support farmers from rising input costs.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We have recognised that increasing input costs, particularly fertiliser, feed, fuel and energy, are creating short term pressures on cash flow.
The Secretary of State recently announced a range of measures in support of the current situation, such as delaying changes to the use of urea fertiliser to help farmers manage their costs and improving statutory guidance for use of slurry. On 31 March I also hosted the first meeting of the Fertiliser Taskforce with key industry bodies to discuss potential mitigations to the challenges which global supply pressures are causing. Ministers will continue to meet with key industry bodies for further Fertiliser Taskforce sessions in the coming months, to help identify and mitigate potential risks.
In addition, the 2022 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payment will be made in two instalments to give farmers an advance injection of cash. Farmers with eligible applications will receive half of their payment from the end of July, and the rest from December. By doing this, the Government intends to inject cash into farm businesses, helping them to make business decisions sooner, with more confidence.
This builds on the increase in revenue payment rates for the Countryside Stewardship scheme to reflect the change in costs since 2013, which Defra announced in January 2022. The majority of payment rates increased, on average by around 30%, although rate changes vary from option to option. These changes affected around 30,000 agreements.
In March 2022, Defra began rolling out the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) to recipients of the BPS. SFI will help with the costs of sowing nitrogen fixing plants and green manures in crops to substitute some fertiliser requirements for the coming season, as well as reducing the dependence on manufactured fertilisers which are impacted by the price of gas. Rising fertiliser prices highlight that we need to find alternatives and move towards more organic-based fertiliser products. SFI is designed to help farmers move to these new sustainable farming methods gradually - which will improve environmental conditions of the land, while building the long-term resilience of our food security and production
We continue to keep the market situation under review through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which monitors UK agricultural markets including price, supply, inputs, trade and recent developments. We have also increased our engagement with industry to supplement our analysis with real time intelligence.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the measures called for by Compassion in World Farming's campaign on Honest Labelling.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government recently ran a call for evidence to assess the impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare. We are very grateful for the data and insights that Compassion in World Farming and many other stakeholders have provided. Based on the responses received, the Government has committed to consult on proposals to improve and expand current animal welfare labelling, covering both domestic and imported products, as well as equivalent measures in the food service sector. This was announced in the Government’s Food Strategy White Paper published on 13 June, and a summary of the responses to the call for evidence will be published shortly. We will continue to engage closely with Compassion in World Farming and other stakeholders from across a broad range of sectors as we develop these proposals.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
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 bring forward legislative proposals to support public sector procurement of British farmed foods.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We are committed to opening up public sector supply chains and supporting a diverse range of suppliers.
We launched a consultation on public sector food and catering policy alongside the Government Food Strategy on 13 June. In the consultation, we are proposing that the public sector reports on progress towards meeting an aspiration that 50% of its food expenditure is on food produced locally or to higher environmental production standards. The proposed policy also requires suppliers to meet UK production standards or equivalent, high animal welfare standards, and public sector menus must reflect seasonal, local food. More details of the consultation can be found at https://consult.defra.gov.uk/public-sector-food-procurement/food-and-catering-consultation/.
Under domestic and international regulations, we cannot stipulate that food procured for the public sector must be British. Nevertheless, there is a strong case for celebrating sustainable, high-quality produce in the public sector.