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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government's commitment to pursue an ambitious new course for the organic sector on 27 January 2021, what specific steps the Government will take to meet this objective.

The Government is taking a multi-pronged approach to support the organic sector. We are working with organic businesses to expand organic exports, whilst working to reduce administrative burden. We are also considering how the new environmental land management schemes under development can best meet the needs of organic producers. We aim to design and administer environmental land management schemes in a way that will support farming and the countryside to make a significant and widespread contribution to environmental, biodiversity and climate change goals, which organic farming can support.

The sector is well placed to export more as UK organic produce clearly demonstrates values such as quality, traceability, and heritage combined with high environmental and welfare credentials which we know consumers across the globe want. To support this we have agreed equivalence arrangements with a number of countries to allow UK organic goods to be exported there, including a mutual recognition with the EU as part of the Trade and cooperation agreement. We are also working alongside the Department for International Trade who recently launched their new programme, Open Doors, and is working with the sector to support them with export opportunities.

The domestic market for organics is also flourishing. There are 6,000 predominantly small and medium-sized UK organic businesses, which in 2019 contributed over £2.5 billion to the UK economy, including exports worth £250 million. In 2020 the total volume of organic produce purchased in the UK rose by 12.9%. This growth in demand represents a great opportunity for UK organic producers, on top of their opportunities in the export market.

Meanwhile, we are streamlining bureaucratic processes inherited from the EU regulatory system to allow for a more flexible and responsive way to handle our regulatory obligations while reducing costs and the burden on the public purse. We intend to use powers under the Agriculture Act 2020 to amend this organics regime to support organic farmers further, benefit the environment, maintain consumer confidence, promote research and innovation in the sector, and reflect future trade agreements. We will consult with organic producers and industry bodies on how to boost innovation, improve governance of organic certification, group certification and making entry into organic production appealing for new entrants.