Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on the investigation into criminal prosecutions as a result of the adulteration of beef products with horsemeat; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Food Standards Agency and the City of London police, working with their counterparts across Europe, are taking forward complicated and far-reaching investigations into the Europe wide horsemeat fraud. The Crown Prosecution Service has announced that criminal proceedings have been instituted for the mislabelling of goat meat and the failure to comply with traceability requirements in relation to horsemeat. It would not be appropriate to comment further on ongoing criminal investigations.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on future-proofing UK and EU standards of consumer and worker protection, animal welfare and environmental sustainability following the conclusion of those negotiations.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government wants to preserve the ability of the UK and EU to set and regulate standards for a range of issues (including consumer and worker protection, animal welfare and environmental sustainability) in order to address our future needs. The Government therefore wishes to enhance cooperation between the EU and US, without affecting the ability of governments to set policy on these issues.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on any weakening of farm animal welfare provisions in the UK; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government continues to support the European Commission in seeking equivalence in animal welfare standards between the EU and US as an important part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations and will strongly resist any attempts to undermine our high national standards or those of our Community partners.
In parallel, we are working with the European Commission through the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to ensure that global standards of animal welfare match those of the EU.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on labelling of products containing GM in the UK food chain; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The existing EU rules which require GM-derived food to be labelled are not expected to be discussed or reviewed as part of the negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on food procurement rules and the ability of the Government to stipulate conditions on procurement which recognise local and regional food and the economic and other benefits of sourcing local and regional food for public procurement; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Public sector procurers are required to seek value for money through fair and open competition. Through our membership of the European Union and as a signatory to international agreements, our contracting authorities are required to treat suppliers from Europe and various other countries on an equal footing with UK suppliers. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is expected to incorporate these longstanding principles of EU and WTO (World Trade Organisation) law. The Public Services (Social Value) Act (2012) requires contracting authorities to consider the full social, environmental and economic value of public services procurements at the pre-procurement stage.
The Government wants UK companies to be successful in public procurement. The most appropriate way to do this is for companies to offer the goods and services at the right quality levels and to provide good value for money. The Government is determined to make access to public sector contracts easier and is introducing a simpler, streamlined method for procuring food and catering services that sets out public sector’s requirements more clearly. This was launched on 21st July in, “A Plan for Public Procurement of Food and Catering Services”.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of whether measures to achieve regulatory convergence under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership may lead to a lower standard of food production in the UK in respect of (a) food safety, (b) food labelling and transparency, (c) animal welfare, (d) worker protections and (e) consumer protections; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
Regulatory coherence offers greater compatibility of EU and US systems and helps to reduce the costs of complying with duplicate procedures at our borders. Leaders on both sides of the Atlantic have been clear that this is not about reducing regulatory standards. Any agreement will need to take into account EU and US rules on food safety, food labelling, animal welfare, worker protection and consumer protection. Regulatory coherence between the EU and US is not therefore expected to lead to lower standards of food production in the UK.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on poultry treated with hyper-chlorinated water entering the UK food chain; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
This issue has yet to be discussed in detail within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership TTIP negotiations and is unlikely to be until the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) delivers an opinion on the public health, safety and environmental impact of this treatment process. The Government will consider its position when the EFSA opinion becomes available.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on meat treated with antibiotics as growth promoters entering the UK food chain; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The use of antibiotics as growth promoters has been banned in the EU since 2006. Third countries permitted to export to the EU are required to have equivalent standards, therefore meat from those countries entering the EU should not contain residues of these substances.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on meat and dairy products derived from cloned animals in the UK food-chain; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
The Government believes that the existing EU Novel Food controls on the use of cloned material already ensure adequate protection of Community consumers. The scientific advice we have makes clear that meat and milk from clones or their progeny is just as safe as that produced by more traditional methods. We do not therefore see the need for any further controls at this point.
Asked by: Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour - Ogmore)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the Government's position is in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations on pork and other meats treated with lactic acid and other organic washes entering the UK food-chain; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
This issue has yet to be discussed in detail within the framework of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. The Government will consider its negotiation position based on a range of factors including the environmental impact and public health benefit of such anti-microbial treatments that can reduce potential for foodborne illness.