Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made to ban the import of hunting trophies.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. Defra continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the department can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to correspondence reference MC2026/09208/NA, what assessment he has made of the potential impact pEPR rules being for glass distributors on (a) costs to consumers and (b) levels of plastic packaging by those distributors.
Answered by Mary Creagh
The Government published its October 2024 assessment of the impact of introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. It assessed packaging producers as a whole, including consumer-price impacts, but did not assess glass distributors specifically. It estimated the overall inflationary impact to be small, with a central estimate of 0.07% on CPI.
The Department has not made a specific assessment of impacts on levels of plastic packaging used by glass distributors. From 2026, pEPR fees are modulated so less recyclable packaging incurs higher fees and more recyclable packaging lower fees. Defra continues to engage with industry stakeholders including the glass sector.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Following wide-ranging stakeholder engagement last year, key priorities for support were identified by industry. In response, the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme in England was adapted to start delivering these priorities, including ring-fencing £6 million for the small-scale coastal fleet and introducing competitive funding rounds for high-value projects. Since launching in April, around 260 applications, worth around £15 million, have been received.
In addition, across the UK, seafood exports are being supported through the £1.5 million per year Seafood Export Package. We remain committed to continuing to develop the fund, for example through the FCGF Expert Advisory Group, ensuring it continues to reflect sector priorities and needs.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 made an assessment of the potential merits of a national fisheries action plan.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I welcome the leadership my Honourable Friend is demonstrating through the APPG for Fisheries, for the industry, and for coastal communities like ours.
The Government is focused on delivering practical support for the sector, through measures such as the SPS agreement, Fisheries Management Plans, and the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund.
I welcomed the opportunity to catch up with my honourable friend recently on her important work, and look forward to engaging with the APPG on its priorities.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
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 impact of the removal of glass products from the extended producer responsibility measures.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Glass packaging is in the scope of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, except where it falls within the scope of the Welsh Deposit Return Scheme, once that scheme is operational.
The Welsh Government’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will include single-use glass drinks containers.
The Department, alongside PackUK and Devolved Governments, continues to engage with industry to monitor and support implementation of the Regulations.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions her Department has had with packaging manufacturers and distributors on the financial sustainability of Extended Producer Responsibility, and what steps she is taking to reflect the concerns of business in her policy.
Answered by Mary Creagh
The Government has engaged extensively with packaging manufacturers, distributors and representative bodies as part of the development of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme. This engagement has included public consultations, technical working groups, bilateral meetings, and ongoing discussions through industry forums.
The Government has carefully considered the concerns raised by business. We are aware of industry concerns around producers being charged pEPR disposal fees for the management of packaging that is disposed of in commercial streams. At a roundtable with industry chaired by me on 10 June it was agreed to establish an industry led group to develop approaches to remove dual use packaging that is unlikely to end up in household waste stream from obligation. This work is now well advanced, and my department is carefully reviewing proposed approaches and will seek to balance sectoral ambitions against the operational integrity of the scheme. We will continue to engage with industry during this process as we seek to establish a final approach.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support UK exporters of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil facing delays at EU Border Control Posts.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Defra actively supports GB exporters of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil to navigate EU Border Control Post processes. To assist exporters, Defra has issued detailed Notes for Guidance outlining the certification process, including specific requirements that must be met to ensure compliance with EU legislation.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to meet representatives of the UK fishmeal and fish oil export sector to discuss (a) the impact of delays at EU ports and (b) potential solutions.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Ministers continue to work closely with industry to address immediate challenges to the cross-border trade between the UK and EU.
As announced at the UK-EU Leaders’ Summit on 19 May 2025, the UK and EU have agreed to work towards a common Sanitary and Phytosanitary Area, aimed at reducing trade barriers to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of Agri-food Negotiations are expected to begin in the autumn.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how often physical sampling checks are applied by the Service d’Inspection Vétérinaire Et Phytosanitaire to UK consignments of Category 3 fishmeal and fish oil exported through Calais; how long those checks take; and what representations she has made to her French counterpart on those checks.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The baseline frequency rate for physical checks on consignments of fishery products, is set out in EU legislation, though this may be increased where serious deficiencies are identified on specific goods. The EU regulations also require that for Processed Animal Protein (PAP), which includes fishmeal, the first six consignments of bulk imports are tested and their compliance verified by EU border controls before releasing the consignment.
Asked by: Melanie Onn (Labour - Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of (a) UK-flagged and (b) EU member state-flagged fishing vessels were subject to port inspections in the last 12 months.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
As of 1 June, there are 4,656 licensed UK fishing vessels. Any of these vessels could be subject to inspection by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) or by an Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority if they come into a port within our administration. MMO is the administrator for all English ports. During the last 12 months the MMO undertook 1,836 in-port inspections. It is not possible to readily identify how many individual vessels were inspected. The majority of these would have been English- registered vessels.
1,545 EU vessels are licensed to fish in UK waters, although the majority do not land their catch to an English port. In the last 12 months, there were 44 landings by EU vessels at English ports of which five were subject to inspection. The inspections were of three individual vessels.