Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce a set of core environmental standards that apply equally to food produced in the UK and imports from overseas to ensure that (a) the UK is sourcing from sustainable supply chains and (b) new trade deals do not lead to an offshoring of the UK's environmental footprint.

The Government is committed to a bold and ambitious approach to agricultural trade, that protects and advances the interests of farmers, food producers and consumers. Environmental considerations continue to be central to this approach. This is in line with our 2019 manifesto commitment to ensure that in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards.

As set out in our response to the final Trade and Agriculture Commission Report (October 2021), the UK has a wide-ranging programme of work underway to raise global ambition for sustainable agriculture. This includes exploring whether a global standards framework could help to meet the UK’s goals.