Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
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 has produced guidance on (a) the use of packaging by manufacturers when distributing (i) consumables and (ii) non-consumables to their supply chain and (b) declaring the amount of packaging used for operational processing.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Guidance for obligated businesses on their current packaging waste recycling responsibilities is published on GOV.UK. The requirements include registering with the regulator, reporting data on the packaging they use or supply, meeting recycling obligations and obtaining evidence of compliance with the regulations. Guidance has also been published on GOV.UK on meeting new reporting requirements under the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme. Defra has not published guidance on the use of packaging by manufacturers when distributing products.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reduce the packaging used for distributing (a) consumables and (b) non-consumables within manufacturers' supply chains.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Our proposals for Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging will make businesses financially responsible for the waste management costs of the packaging they use or supply that ends up in household bins and street bins. This includes packaging used to distribute products purchased online directly to consumers. This will encourage businesses to reduce the amount of packaging they use and to use packaging that can be recycled easily. The UK Government jointly with the Devolved Administrations is consulting currently on the draft Regulations that will introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. These do not include any specific requirements on businesses to reduce distribution packaging.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
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 representations to her US counterpart on the potential merits of granting whiskey from Northern Ireland the same level of distinctive product protection as afforded to Scotch whisky in that country.
Answered by Mark Spencer
The UK Government fully recognises the importance of Irish Whiskey to the Northern Ireland economy, and we welcome the recent rise in exports of Irish Whiskey to the United States. We are fully supportive of attempts by the industry to strengthen the protection of Irish Whiskey in US federal law and will ask the US Government to pursue this to align with protection afforded already to Scotch Whisky.