Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Marine Management Organisation on regulation of small inshore fishermen.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I regularly engage with the MMO on a range of issues that impact on the inshore fleet.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
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 the potential merits of introducing warning labels for ultra-processed foods to help consumers make more informed choices.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food labelling rules require that information should not be misleading to consumers and should allow consumers to make informed choices. The rules include the requirement to list ingredients in detail on all prepacked food along with nutrition labelling which sets out the energy value and amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt. By viewing this information, consumers can know what is in a food and its key nutritional properties. A requirement to add a warning to food labels is reserved for cases where there is an identified and specific risk to all or a section of consumers, about which they need to be alerted. Such warnings are included in food information regulations relating, for example, to the presence of caffeine above certain levels or aspartame being a source of Phenylalanine as a warning for sufferers of Phenylketonuria (PKU). We are not considering warning labels for Ultra-processed food.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with (a) the Welsh Government, (b) Powys County Council, (c) Thames Water, (d) Seven Trent Water and (e) United Utilities on proposals to redirect water supplies from Llyn Fyrnwy to the South East of England.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As agreed in the Intergovernmental Protocol on Water Resources, Water Supply and Water Quality, Defra and the Welsh Government work together on water resources management.
Water companies in England and Wales have a statutory duty to provide a secure supply of water for customers, efficiently and economically. Statutory water resources management plans show how companies will continue to meet this duty and manage water supply and demand sustainably for at least the next 25 years. In their plans, water companies must consider all options, including demand management and water resources infrastructure. Collaborative regional water resources groups and water companies have been consulting on their draft water resources management plans. This includes United Utilities, Severn Trent Water and Thames Water. Within the draft plans produced by Thames Water, Severn Trent Water and United Utilities, are descriptions of a transfer of water from the reservoir Vyrnwy (Llyn Efyrnwy) through the River Severn and then into the upper part of the River Thames. This is known as the Severn to Thames transfer. Following public consultation, the water companies are now reviewing how they will change their plans. The companies will produce a Statement of Response that will detail whether this transfer will continue. The scheme is also being reviewed through RAPID (Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development).
Ofwat, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales issued joint water resources planning guidance to water companies, which takes account of policy in England and Wales. They are also statutory consultees on the plans, as relevant. The plans will be referred to the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers for approval later in the year.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in relation to proposals to introduce an offence of pet abduction announced in September 2021, what discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on those proposals; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including cats, as well as dogs, in the scope of those proposals.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials regularly discuss animal welfare issues including the new pet abduction offence with their Welsh Government counterparts.
We have listened carefully to the views expressed during the passage of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill that the new pet abduction offence should be extended to cats. We are currently considering this issue further.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the trends in the (i) level of supply and (ii) cost of agricultural fertiliser and (b) impact of supply and cost of agricultural fertiliser on domestic food production.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Gordon on 26 November 2021, PQ UIN 77505 and 77506.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is planning to take to tackle unfair practices in the egg supply chain.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Agriculture Act 2020 contains powers to introduce statutory codes of practice which would apply to businesses when purchasing agricultural products directly from farmers. We intend to use these powers in a targeted way where there is clear evidence of unfair practices in specific agricultural sectors and statutory codes will help address the issues. The Government will continue to work closely with all sectors, including the egg industry, to discuss any supply chain issues.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of mined coal required annually for water filtration purposes.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Coal-derived substances are used in water quality treatment processes and in other filtration devices. My department has not made an estimate of the amount of mined coal required annually for this purpose.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he expects the 2018 Ivory Act to be implemented.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation on the implementation of the Ivory Act 2018 was published on 9 March and closed on 4 May. We published a summary of responses on 14 September confirming our plans for implementation.
We plan to implement the ban this winter and for the ban to come into force in spring 2022.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
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 consider the potential merits of a scheme to safely remove unwanted ivory products in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Act will not affect the ownership of ivory items and therefore we have no plans for a Government surrender scheme for unwanted ivory items at this time. We recognise that, for some low value items, owners may decide it is not cost-effective to register them for sale. This will be a decision for individual owners. Such items may of course be gifted, donated, or bequeathed rather than discarded. We will explain to owners what options are available to them as part of our awareness raising campaign.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of a UK-EU veterinary agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary rules on movements of animals and food products on Welsh (a) exports and (b) imports.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We continue to engage with the EU on steps we can take to reduce trade frictions. At the first meeting of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) Partnership Council on 9 June, the UK emphasised the importance of cooperating to avoid unnecessary SPS barriers, and reiterated that we are open to an SPS agreement based on equivalence.
The UK proposed a mechanism to agree equivalence during the TCA negotiations, which the EU did not countenance. We are open to discussions with the EU on additional steps to further reduce trade friction, but these cannot be on the basis of future alignment with EU rules. This would compromise UK sovereignty over our own laws.
Our TCA also provides an alternative framework for agreeing trade facilitations going forward. Over time, this will help to reduce the burden on businesses from border controls and certification requirements. We will seek to reduce checks safely through the regular dialogue both sides have committed to in the agreement.