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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of EU Commission proposals to phase out (a) enriched cages and (b) farrowing crates on UK-EU trade of agricultural goods.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.

All agri-food products must comply with our import requirements in order to be placed on the UK market and we work with our trade partners to achieve that in the least trade restrictive way possible. This includes ensuring imported meat products have been slaughtered to animal welfare standards equivalent to our domestic standards. We have been clear that we will use our Trade Strategy to support economic growth and promote the highest standards of food production.