Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Trade Deals: Animal Welfare and Environmental Standards

Thursday 2 December 2021 · 2 questions

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

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Her Majesty's Government have agreed ground-breaking animal welfare provisions with Australia and New Zealand, including stand-alone chapters on animal welfare.
  • The British public's high regard for animal welfare and environmental standards is shared by Her Majesty's Government.
  • Britain has secured agreement in principle on free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, which will maintain Britain's high levels of environmental protection.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham
Brexit Business & Trade Environment
Context

There is concern about the inclusion of clauses related to animal welfare and environmental standards in upcoming trade agreements with UK partners. The question seeks details on recent discussions.

Question

What recent discussions have you had with UK trade partners on inserting clauses on (a) animal welfare and (b) environmental standards into future trade deals?

Answer from Ranil Jayawardena

Her Majesty's Government share the British public's high regard for animal welfare and environmental standards. We have agreed ground-breaking animal welfare provisions with Australia and New Zealand, including stand-alone chapters reflecting the importance of animal welfare in those agreements. We have secured ambitious environmental chapters that preserve our right to regulate to meet net zero, affirm our shared commitment to the Paris agreement and will help us to co-operate on a range of environmental issues.

Answered
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Q2 Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham
Brexit Business & Trade Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

Residents in Twickenham are concerned about the ethics and quality of food from foreign trade deals, as well as the protection of high food standards and support for British farmers. The question seeks a guarantee to protect these interests in future trade agreements.

Question

My residents in Twickenham are deeply concerned about both the ethics and the quality of the food that they eat, and they have written to me in their hundreds about protecting standards in future trade deals. They also want to protect British farmers, yet farmers across the country, from Cumbria to Shropshire to Cornwall, are being let down by trade deals that threaten to undercut them. If the Minister truly backs British farming and high food standards, why will he not give a cast-iron guarantee to protect them in future trade deals?

Answer from Ranil Jayawardena

Britain has secured agreement in principle on free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, following deals with the European economic area and Japan that will maintain Britain's high levels of environmental protection and facilitate trade in goods and services for those farmers.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask for a cast-iron guarantee to protect British farmers and standards was not directly addressed, only a general reference to existing agreements being made with other countries that maintain high levels of environmental protection.

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