Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it will be possible to import hormone-reared beef after Brexit.
The Government is proud of our high standards of food safety and these will not be watered down when we leave the EU. We will remain global leaders in environmental protection and animal welfare standards, maintaining our high quality produce for British consumers.
The UK has transposed EU Council Directive 96/22/EC into UK law, which prohibits the use of artificial growth hormones in both domestic production and imported products. This will continue when we leave the EU.
The Withdrawal Act will transfer onto the UK statute book all EU food safety and animal welfare standards. Our current high standards, including import requirements, will apply when we leave the EU.