Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the recently published Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain in 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential harms caused to cynomolgus monkeys by transporting them from Africa or Asia to Great Britain for use in scientific procedures.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The UK Government maintains robust regulations and guidelines to ensure the welfare of animals used in scientific procedures, including during transportation. Strict standards are in place, and thorough planning and risk assessments are conducted to mitigate potential risks. These assessments consider various factors, such as appropriate housing, environmental conditions, veterinary care, and the expertise of personnel involved. Protected animals in Great Britain that are used, or bred or supplied for use, in scientific procedures, are regulated by the Home Office under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.
When animals are transported, their transportation must comply fully with legal requirements aimed at protecting their welfare, including the provision of sufficient space, feed and water. All transporters are required to ensure that, when transporting animals, they do so in a way that avoids causing pain, suffering or distress. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the scientific community and regulatory bodies continually review and refine transportation practices to enhance the welfare of animals used in research. This includes exploring alternatives to minimize the need for transportation, such as collaborations with local research facilities and the sharing of resources and data across institutions.
The Government is committed to upholding the highest standards of animal welfare throughout the scientific research process.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of the report stage of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill on the import of dogs with cropped ears.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has not made an assessment of this impact. Parliamentary business will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of 9 January, Official Report column 139WH, what discussions she has had with the devolved administrations on the potential merits of banning the use of snares.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
A date is being arranged for a meeting with Lesley Griffiths, MS for Rural Affairs in the Welsh Government after the Easter recess. I will be interested to discuss the Welsh Government’s plans to ban the use of snares in Wales. I also intend to engage with my counterpart in the Scottish Government, particularly with regard to the effectiveness of its existing legislation covering snares and the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission’s recent position paper on the trapping of terrestrial wild mammals using snares. In the meantime, my officials are in regular contact with colleagues in the devolved administrations as this government continues to consider how snares are regulated as part of our continued drive to maintain the highest animal welfare standards in the world.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the timing of the legislative stages for the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals Bill) on levels of puppy smuggling.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was re-introduced to the House of Commons in May and will progress to Report stage as soon as Parliamentary time allows. It includes measures which tackle puppy smuggling.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of requiring that the definition of bread only includes produce which has been made without the use of food additives.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Defra, alongside the Department of Health and Social Care, the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland and Wales, Food Standards Scotland and the Scottish and Welsh Governments have been conducting jointly a review of The Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 and The Bread and Flour (Northern Ireland) Regulations 1998 to ensure the regulations are fit for purpose and support UK industry while protecting consumers.
Existing food labelling rules and other requirements on the control of additives in food production ensure that food is produced safely and labelled effectively to enable consumers to make informed choices on the food they buy and consume. While we are always looking for ways to improve our regulations, legislative intervention is just one option and should be restricted to areas where there is clear market failure.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 (a) Cabinet colleagues, (b) Devolved Governments and (c) Local Government on the promotion of the consumption of proximate seasonal produce.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
This Government wants people at home and abroad to be lining up to Buy British. We will always champion our farmers and producers, supporting them to grow more of our great British food, and to provide a reliable and sustainable food supply to the British public. The recently published Government food strategy sets out our aim to broadly maintain domestic food production at current levels as we deliver our climate and environmental aims.
We work closely with industry and trade associations to engage with and support initiatives that highlight the qualities of British meat, dairy, seafood and fruit and vegetable products. During the pandemic we worked with industry to promote fish caught in UK waters, seasonal veg, and supported the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s campaign on milk and dairy to the British public. To support producers in promoting their products we hosted a Regional Food and Drink Summit in March 2022. The Summit brought together SMEs and regional organisations to share best practice and access support to grow their business. Building on the success of the Summit we will continue to offer specialised regional support and engagement with food and drink SMEs.
We welcome efforts from all parts of the food chain to promote and source British products. We will lead by example in the public sector, using our purchasing power to champion local, healthy, sustainable, and high-quality food. The consultation on public sector food and catering policy, launched alongside our food strategy, proposes a mandatory standard on menu cycles and seasonality. In this consultation we propose that public sector menus must vary throughout the year to reflect the natural growing or production period for the UK, such as cauliflower and butternut squash in the winter, and new potatoes, berries and lamb in the summer.
Due to the UK-wide and international nature of the food system, we have maintained regular engagement with the Devolved Administrations during the development of the food strategy. Responsibility for public sector food procurement is devolved to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the proposed changes therefore apply to England only. However, we work closely across the Devolved Administrations to share best practice and ensure public sector food policy is complimentary.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 his Department has made of how businesses and manufacturers can reduce the microplastics in (a) personal care products and (b) clothes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Microbeads have been banned in rinse-off personal care and cleaning products since 2018. We encourage businesses not to add them into any products that are out of scope of the ban.
The Government’s Resources & Waste Strategy for England (2018) identified textiles as one of five priority sectors for consideration of an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme and product standards. Our draft Waste Prevention Programme for England, consulted on in March 2021, affirms this commitment and sets out our approach to develop policy options.
We are working closely with industry via Textiles 2030, an industry-led voluntary agreement (managed by WRAP), which is underpinned by ambitious science-based targets, including halving the carbon footprint of new products by 50% by 2030 and reducing the water footprint by 30% by 2030. The Microfibre Consortium is a signatory to the initiative and WRAP is working with the Consortium on the Textiles 2030 Roadmap.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of banning the export licensing of pesticides which are prohibited from domestic use by the Health and Safety Executive for the purposes of protecting (a) human health and (b) the environment.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We take our trade and international obligations for human health and the environment seriously and continue to monitor action in other countries and learn from their experiences.
In Great Britain, the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals is regulated under the GB Prior Informed Consent (PIC) regulatory regime. Companies intending to export any substances present on the PIC list from GB must notify the importing country via the exporter's Designated National Authority. For GB, the Designated National Authority is the Health and Safety Executive. The exchange of information that PIC provides allows the importing countries to make informed decisions on the import of those chemicals and on how to handle and use them safely. This process is kept under review.
We believe it is essential that the use of active substances that are known to be hazardous to human health or the environment should be subject to scientific risk assessment and regulatory protections.
We are progressing projects assessing the impacts of pesticides on human health and the environment in developing countries. We will continue to support developing countries to use pest management techniques which are most beneficial for them based on evidence and the expressed desires of the countries
Additionally, the UK is committed to working internationally including through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management and United Nations Environment Assembly to support other nations to manage pesticides safely. We also believe in evidence-based international policymaking through the use of scientific committees, such as the Chemical Review Committee, and strengthening of the international 'science-policy interface' for chemicals and pesticides to support global decision-making.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to improve the (a) accuracy and (b) transparency of data collected by the UK Government on the importation of pets.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The information that we provide is a true reflection of the information that we have access to.
The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals.
Every month carriers complete and submit spreadsheets detailing their throughput broken down by species, document type, non-compliance data and whether or not it is an assistance animal. This is the data recorded on the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) system. Where necessary APHA ensures that carriers provide this information in a timely manner.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's consultation on Commercial and Non-Commercial Movements of Pets into Great Britain opened in August 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on smuggling cats and kittens of the proposed (a) protections and (b) exclusions.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June and is progressing through Parliament. The Bill includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.
In August 2021, the Government launched an 8-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. The consultation proposed to maintain the existing requirements for cats. This is because there is currently limited evidence that there is a significant illegal trade in cats or significant numbers of low welfare movements. The number of non-compliant cats seized at the border is much lower than for dogs, for example, in 2020 we seized and detained 17 kittens (under 15 weeks) compared to 543 puppies.
The consultation sought views on whether maintaining the existing requirements in relation to cats was the right approach. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary in due course. This will allow us to take on board the views of the public and interested groups in order to shape our future policy.
We will continue to work closely with stakeholders prior to the introduction of the legislation, to ensure that our final measures are well considered and led by the latest evidence.