Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the business test under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) England Regulations 2018 for breeders who breed two or fewer litters per year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are currently conducting a post-implementation review of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018. The review will consider the need for any refinements to the eight licensable activities, including dog breeding, in light of evidence provided by stakeholders, partners, and local authorities.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of dog breeding regulations on breeders who breed two or fewer litters per year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations) anyone in the business of breeding and selling dogs and/or who breeds three or more litters in a twelve-month period needs to have a valid licence from their local authority.
The 2018 Regulations are targeted at businesses and individuals/operators which operate on a commercial basis. They are not intended to capture or regulate hobby breeders. We are currently conducting a post-implementation review of the 2018 Regulations which will consider the need for any refinements in light of evidence provided by stakeholders, licensed and unlicensed dog breeders, and local authorities.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 effectiveness of the Petfished campaign in providing information to potential puppy buyers on sourcing a puppy responsibly; and whether she plans to run further education campaigns to help puppy buyers acquire dogs responsibly.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our analysis of the Petfished campaign indicates that it has successfully delivered key messages about the responsible purchase or rehoming of cats and dogs. Those key messages remain available to the public on the Petfished website which can be found here: Petfished – Learn how to spot the signs of a deceitful pet seller (getyourpetsafely.campaign.gov.uk)
Defra keeps its public messaging campaigns under review and will consider conducting further campaigns to support the responsible purchasing of pets where there are clear benefits.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 industry stakeholders on the level of Government support that will be required for the implementation of the packaging extended producer responsibility scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Key stakeholders from industry have been involved throughout the policy development process, through forums such as the Advisory Committee on Packaging (ACP), Defra’s Packaging and Collections Working Group and the Industry Sounding Board. We held an initial consultation on the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging in 2019 and a second consultation in 2021.
We have recently embarked on a series of visioning sprints to provide an opportunity for industry and UK Government officials to work together to propose a shared vision and develop a strategic roadmap for the delivery of our packaging and waste reforms. We are also running fortnightly Business Readiness Forums, to ensure we capture feedback and continue to relay key information to businesses across the packaging chain. A number of deep dive sessions on specific topics have also been arranged and we will continue to offer new sessions throughout 2023 to ensure business readiness.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the potential impact of the proposed packaging extended producer responsibility scheme on business costs.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An impact assessment, setting out the costs and benefits of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, was published in March 2022 alongside the Government response to our 2021 consultation. This estimates the net cost to business of these reforms at £1206.8 million per year.
An updated impact assessment will be published later this year alongside the draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2023.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 plans to publish a plan to transition to the packaging extended producer responsibility scheme; and whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to mandate the scheme in law.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023 were debated in the House of Commons on 2 February 2023 and are due to come into force on the 28 February 2023. Similar regulations will be introduced in parallel in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These regulations will require producers to collect and report data on the packaging they supply. We are not planning to publish a transition plan at this stage, but we have published guidance and an obligation checker to help obligated producers to prepare for pEPR on the gov.uk website, including outlining the data producers will need to start collecting from March and report from October 2023. This guidance will be continually updated with more detailed information.
My Department’s intention is that the regulations to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) will be introduced at the end of 2023. These regulations will reflect the policy set out in the Government response to the 2021 consultation, which was published in March 2022.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 taking to ensure that standards on food labelling and allergens in the UK are maintained following the Government’s proposal to sunset existing EU regulations.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Maintaining the UK's high food standards remains our priority. HM Government is committed to promoting robust food standards nationally and internationally, to protect consumer interests, facilitate international trade and ensure that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill will not in any way reduce that commitment.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill 2022 on public health standards.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
HM Government is committed to maintaining the United Kingdom's public health standards, including through upholding standards on environmental quality and food safety.
Defra is in the process of analysing its Retained EU Law stock to determine what should be preserved as part of domestic law, and what should be repealed, or amended. This work will determine how we use the powers in the Bill and therefore inform assessments of its impact, including in relation to the above.
Defra is also committed to maintaining current high levels of biosecurity including sanitary and phytosanitary measures. These measures protect human, animal and plant health from disease, pests and contaminants by preventing introduction of disease agents into the country.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a visual check at the border to ensure that the pet animal is the (a) same as the animal listed on the pet passport and (b) age stated.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. All non-commercial dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain on approved routes (every route other than Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependencies) under the Pet Travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers.
To enter Great Britain pets must have been implanted with a microchip or have a legible tattoo imprinted prior to 3 July 2011. A pet’s identity is checked by ensuring that the microchip or tattoo details correspond to the details in the pet’s documentation, which includes the date of birth of the pet animal. Carriers can refer suspected non-compliances to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), including cases where any dog appears underage. APHA staff are highly trained to deal with intercepted shipments.
APHA works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.
The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021 and completed committee on 18 November 2021. The Bill allows us to further protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to support companies pioneering new technologies to make food and drink packaging more accessible to people with sight loss.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The availability and accessibility of essential food information to all consumers is vitally important. It is already a requirement that food information must be easily visible and clearly legible. Information shall not in any way be obscured and depending on the package size, there is a minimum font size.
That said, we welcome work by industry, especially companies developing new digital technologies with the potential to provide the means for people with visual impairment to access food information. As part of the upcoming Food Strategy White Paper, we will look at optimising food information, including labelling, so all consumers, are better able to make informed choices.