Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of banning imports to the UK of soy from illegally deforested land.
In November, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) tabled a new ‘due diligence’ requirement under the Environment Bill to tackle illegal deforestation.
This would require certain businesses to only source legally produced commodities where there is “forest risk” (those commodities that can lead to deforestation), conduct due diligence on their supply chains and report on it annually.
Whether specific commodities, including soya, are in scope will be determined through secondary legislation, on which DEFRA will consult further.