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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the UK's sanitary and phytosanitary rules in food production are not affected by the agreement of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could be worth £10 billion a year to the UK economy, with potential to deliver significant opportunities for the UK agriculture, food and drink sectors. Sanitary and phytosanitary issues are likely to be critical to a successful agreement. I am pursuing these in consultation with industry and other interested parties to ensure progress is made, based on sound science and consistent with our biosecurity and food safety standards.