Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing more clear country of origin labelling for imported food produce.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food Information to Consumers Regulations apply to all food sold on the UK market, including imported food, and require many foods to declare the origin on the label. This includes where the consumer would be misled if it were not given, and always for specific foods such as: beef; veal; lamb; mutton; pork; goat; poultry; fish; shellfish; wine; olive oil; honey; and most fruits and vegetables. Additionally, there are rules that help prevent the consumer from being misled about the origin of the primary ingredient of the food.
In the Food Strategy which was published earlier this year we committed to exploring whether existing country of origin rules can be strengthened by mandating how and where origin information is displayed. HM Government is committed to tightening up food labelling so that it is easier for consumers to buy British.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of unregulated canine fertility clinics on animal welfare.
Answered by Steve Double
Fertility clinics which offer the diagnosis of diseases, perform tests for diagnostic purposes, or carry out medical or surgical treatment such as artificial insemination on dogs, are subject to the requirements of The Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. The 1966 Act prohibits anyone who is not a veterinary surgeon registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) from undertaking any non-exempt procedure. Concerns about a person's legitimacy to practice should be reported to the RCVS as Regulator for the Act.
Those operating canine fertility clinics, and owners using their services, are required under The Animal Welfare Act 2006 to protect the animals involved from harm and to provide for their welfare in line with good practice. A breach of these provisions may lead to imprisonment, a fine, or both.
The 2006 Act is backed up by the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs which provides owners and keepers with general welfare information, including a specific section on how to protect them from pain, suffering, injury and disease. That section of the Code of Practice recommends owners seek veterinary advice before breeding their dogs and that owners should take all reasonable steps to ensure that they are able to provide the care required during pregnancy.
Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters in a 12 month period needs to have a valid licence from their local authority.
Under the 2018 Regulations licencees must achieve and maintain statutory minimum animal welfare standards, linked to the welfare needs of the Animal Welfare Act 2006: Dog breeding licensing: statutory guidance for local authorities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill on exports of agricultural products to the EU.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
All goods placed on the EU Single Market must comply with EU legislation. Precision bred products would therefore be able to enter the EU market if they have received an EU GMO authorisation and are marketed as such.
The EU are currently consulting on a new regulatory framework for plants produced by precision breeding technologies and intend to implement this framework by 2023. We will continue to monitor progress of this new framework as this develops.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of rising fertiliser prices on (a) wheat and (b) other food crop production in (a) 2022 and (b) future years.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The situation and impacts on farmers in particular, and industry more widely, of increasing fuel prices, are being monitored closely. Defra is in regular contact with key industry figures including the National Farmers Union, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board and key sector representatives.
The Government has announced steps to assist farmers with the availability of fertilisers to address uncertainty amongst growers and keep costs down for farmers, such as delaying changes to the use of urea fertiliser by at least a year to help farmer manage costs in light of pressure on the supply of ammonium nitrate fertilisers. Alongside revised and improved statutory guidance on the use of slurry and other manures during autumn and winter, we have introduced new slurry storage grants to help farmers meet the Farming Rules for Water and reducing dependence on artificial fertilisers by storing organic nutrients until needed or for onward processing.
In addition, further details of the Sustainable Farming Incentive have also been published. Given current fertiliser prices, the priority must be to pioneer new technologies to manufacture more organic-based fertiliser products, and rediscover. The Government will pay farmers to help them with the costs of sowing nitrogen fixing plants and green manures in their crops or in advance of their crops to substitute some of their fertiliser requirements for the coming season and reduce their dependence on manufactured fertilisers linked to the price of gas.
Last week I chaired an industry fertiliser roundtable to continue to work on these issues, identify solutions and better understand the impact of current pressures on farmers. In addition, Defra is extending the membership of its longstanding Market Monitoring Group, which involves industry expertise to understand trends in markets.
We understand from industry intelligence that the vast majority of fertiliser needs for this planting season have been met. The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain that has coped well in responding to unprecedented challenges. We speak regularly with food industry figures, who remain confident in the food supply chain.