Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Food and Drink Exports to the EU

Thursday 22 April 2021 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial action was taken when there were initial problems in January with UK food and drink exports to the EU.
  • Exports increased by 77 percent in February, with growth continuing in export health certificates.
  • Scottish exports, which account for 25 percent of UK food and drink exports, faced losses and capacity issues due to new regulations for export health certificates.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Gavin Newlands SNP
Business & Trade
Context

The MP questioned recent trends in UK food and drink exports to the EU post-Brexit, noting significant declines due to coronavirus restrictions and new procedures.

Question

What recent assessment has been made by his Department on trends in UK food and drink exports to the EU? The combination of falling demand due to coronavirus and new procedures led to a significant drop in January but recovered 77% in February. What will it take for Ministers to act, or do we have to wait for a text from a crony?

Answer from George Eustice

We took action when there were teething problems in January. Exports increased by 77% in February, with export health certificates continuing to grow. The situation is improving.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The MP asked for substantive actions but received general statements about improvement without specific measures or commitments.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q2 Gavin Newlands SNP
Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The MP highlighted specific declines in fish, cheese, and seafood exports due to Brexit issues, questioning the lack of concrete action from the government despite previous excuses.

Question

Since Brexit, fish and cheese exports collapsed with various excuses. Seafood saw reclassification issues. What will it take for Ministers to act, or do we have to wait for a text from a crony?

Answer from George Eustice

We took action immediately when there were teething problems in January. The trend is improving, with exports increasing by 77% in February and export health certificates continuing to grow.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The MP asked for specific actions but received general statements about improvement without concrete steps or commitments.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)

Q3 Deidre Brock SNP
Brexit Business & Trade
Context

The MP noted that Scottish exports account for a quarter of UK food and drink exports, suffering significant losses due to new export health certificates for composite goods.

Question

Scottish exports make up 25% of UK food and drink exports. They lost hundreds of millions in sales from January to February with some products losing market share. New regulations for export health certificates will further impact them. Vets say they lack capacity to deal with this new chaos. What plans do the Government have?

Answer from George Eustice

We worked closely with industry over months, knowing the EU would change export health certificates for composite goods from April 21. We secured replacement health certificates and private attestations where needed.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The MP asked about specific government plans but received general statements on working with industry without concrete measures or commitments.

Was this summary accurate? Tell us

How accurate was this summary? (1 = poor, 5 = spot on)