Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023

Lord Borwick Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The Civil Service animal welfare team in Defra is extremely committed and works incredibly hard. This is a very broad area, with many areas of animal welfare that we are working on at the same time. This is something that we want to deliver on. I know the team is working very hard with both industry and stakeholders to look at the best way to bring legislation forward.

[Lord Borwick (Con)]

My Lords, will the Minister confirm that the commitment previously given to provide an opt-out for certified zoos will be part of these regulations when they are published?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I assume that the activities the noble Lord is referring to regarding zoos are high-welfare activities. As I said, we are looking at how best to bring legislation forward. For any activity to be exempt, there would need to be compelling, sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the activity was high welfare and therefore not to be constrained by any legislation coming forward. Part of the work in developing future legislation is considering how best to do that.