Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
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 had recent discussions with his EU counterparts on UK legislation on gene-editing.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government is introducing legislation to enact the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants and food and feed before the end of March.
The European Commission has published a proposal that is similar in aim to the Precision Breeding Act. The department is monitoring progress on the EU’s regulatory proposal closely and engaging with the European Commission when appropriate.
Officials have met with EU counterparts several times to discuss England’s approach to precision breeding and the EU’s proposal on new genomic techniques, including through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee and through the UK-EU Joint Consultative Working Group Agri-food structured group.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on aligning gene-editing legislation with that of the European Union.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
The Government is introducing legislation to enact the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 for plants and food and feed before the end of March.
The European Commission has published a proposal that is similar in aim to the Precision Breeding Act. The department is monitoring progress on the EU’s regulatory proposal closely and engaging with the European Commission when appropriate.
Officials have met with EU counterparts several times to discuss England’s approach to precision breeding and the EU’s proposal on new genomic techniques, including through the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee and through the UK-EU Joint Consultative Working Group Agri-food structured group.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to support the roll out of a national reusable nappy incentive scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In line with the 25 Year Environment Plan and our Resources and Waste Strategy, we are considering the best approach to minimise the environmental impact of a range of products, including nappies, taking on board the environmental and social impacts of the options available.
Potential additional policy measures include standards, consumer information and encouraging voluntary action by business which could include a national reusable nappy incentive scheme.
We are funding an environmental assessment of disposable and washable absorbent hygiene products with the primary focus on nappies, and we need to wait for the outcome of that work before considering possible future action by the Government and industry. The assessment is looking at the waste and energy impacts of washable and disposable products, disposal to landfill or incineration, and recycling options. The research will be published later this year, following peer review.