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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of using powers under Section 20 and 21 of the Agriculture Act 2020 to make a declaration of exceptional market conditions for the poultry and eggs sector.

We recognise that the agriculture industry, including the poultry and eggs sectors, has faced a number of challenges over the last year, particularly in relation to the increase of input costs as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, our assessment is that the conditions for intervention under Section 20 or Section 21 of the Agriculture Act are not currently met, not least because input costs are now falling.

We continue to closely monitor the situation in each sector through the UK Agriculture Market Monitoring Group and via regular, on-going sector stakeholder engagement.