Asked by: Naomi Long (Alliance - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made in implementing its commitment to ban the use of wild animals in travelling circuses; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Rt. Hon. Member for Richmond (Yorks), to the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse, during the House of Commons debate on 23 October 2014, Official Report column 1062-1063.
Asked by: Naomi Long (Alliance - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's priorities are in the negotiations with China concerning the export of meat products other than pork.
Answered by George Eustice
Securing access to Chinese markets for a range of UK products is a key priority in the Government and industry's Export Action Plan. In addition to our interests on pork, we are working closely with industry and the Chinese authorities to advance negotiations on the export conditions for poultry meat. This trade could be worth up to £70 million a year.
Over the longer term, we are working to secure market access for beef and lamb exports to China estimated to be worth up to £120 million a year. We have recently agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese authorities and this formally initiates the detailed technical negotiations. This development has been widely welcomed by industry, and whilst the negotiations are likely to take some time we will seek to conclude them as quickly as we can.
We are also pressing for early agreement on exports of UK poultry meat and have invited the Chinese authorities to conduct an inward inspection visit as soon as possible. I would encourage any plant interested in exporting to China to ensure it complies fully with Chinese requirements before any inspection visit.
The Secretary of State intends to visit China again this year to advance these and other UK market access interests.
Asked by: Naomi Long (Alliance - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made in its negotiations with China on the export of meat products other than pork.
Answered by George Eustice
Securing access to Chinese markets for a range of UK products is a key priority in the Government and industry's Export Action Plan. In addition to our interests on pork, we are working closely with industry and the Chinese authorities to advance negotiations on the export conditions for poultry meat. This trade could be worth up to £70 million a year.
Over the longer term, we are working to secure market access for beef and lamb exports to China estimated to be worth up to £120 million a year. We have recently agreed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese authorities and this formally initiates the detailed technical negotiations. This development has been widely welcomed by industry, and whilst the negotiations are likely to take some time we will seek to conclude them as quickly as we can.
We are also pressing for early agreement on exports of UK poultry meat and have invited the Chinese authorities to conduct an inward inspection visit as soon as possible. I would encourage any plant interested in exporting to China to ensure it complies fully with Chinese requirements before any inspection visit.
The Secretary of State intends to visit China again this year to advance these and other UK market access interests.
Asked by: Naomi Long (Alliance - Belfast East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to address the problem of horse abandonment.
Answered by George Eustice
There are many underlying issues which result in horses being abandoned and neglected. In some cases it seems owners are struggling to cope with the costs involved in keeping a horse. In other cases, irresponsible breeders and horse traders are deliberately placing horses on land to secure grazing for their animals at no cost to themselves. In the Government's view the way to address these problems is to tackle the perpetrators directly. Anti-social behaviour orders have been successfully used in Wales and in Bristol to address fly grazing, and there is likely to be an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 where a horse is abandoned. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 brings forward new streamlined measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, of which the practice of fly-grazing of horses is a prime example. Where fly grazing is a particular problem, we encourage the local authorities and police to work together with landowners, farmers and welfare charities to identify the culprits and address their behaviour directly using these powers. In a number of cases and to encourage joined up working, protocols have been drawn up by some local authorities to summarise the action that can be taken under existing legislation. Defra is supplementing that guidance with advice on the new measures in the 2014 Act which come into force later this year.