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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to publish a timetable for implementing legislative proposals on the use of forest risk commodities in commercial activity.

We recently introduced legislation to the Environment Bill to help to ensure that key forest risk commodities used in the UK are not contributing to illegal deforestation or habitat conversion. This initiative is in line with the recommendations of the Global Resource Initiative taskforce, widely supportive feedback to our public consultation on the proposal, as well as our international objectives at the upcoming Glasgow United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26).

We are the first country to introduce such legislation. We intend to move swiftly to lay the necessary secondary legislation. Subject to the passage of the Environment Bill and consultation, our aim is to do so shortly after the November COP26 Climate conference where we will be convening a global dialogue on trade in forest and agricultural commodities that we will draw on as we finalise our approach.