Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Animal Welfare Standards: Imports and Exports

Thursday 1 February 2024 · 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

  • UK Government implemented a border target operating model requiring a veterinarian's health certificate for meat imports from the EU.
  • Eggs, pork, and poultry are excluded from the UK-Australia free trade agreement.
  • Anthony Mangnall raised concerns about the seizure of a shipment due to a missing word on an export health certificate.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Neale Hanvey
Brexit Business & Trade Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The UK has left the EU, leading to new controls on animal welfare and food imports. Concerns have arisen about potential risks from low-cost products imported from countries with lower welfare standards.

Question

Whether he is taking steps to improve animal welfare standards applicable to food imports and exports. Yesterday, the UK Government implemented a border target operating model in which a veterinarian must provide a health certificate for meat imports from the EU. Meanwhile, the UK-Australia free trade agreement, likely to lead to increased imports of low-cost products produced with banned pesticides, poses risks due to lower welfare standards.

Answer from Steve Barclay

The hon. Gentleman is mixing up two issues. He mentioned Australia, and specifically eggs. If he actually looked at the agreement with Australia, he would see that eggs are excluded, as are pork and poultry. He is mixing that up with the issue of food standards for imports from Europe.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific risk posed by imported products from countries like Australia was not directly addressed.

How: Mixing Issues

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Q2 Neale Hanvey
Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The UK-Australia free trade agreement has led to concerns about the import of low-cost products from Australia, which may have lower animal welfare standards compared to the UK.

Question

Does the Secretary of State accept that this asymmetry on standards of animal welfare is incoherent and poses a significant risk of contaminating the food chain with banned pesticides?

Answer from Steve Barclay

The hon. Gentleman is mixing up two issues. He mentioned Australia, and specifically eggs. If he actually looked at the agreement with Australia, he would see that eggs are excluded, as are pork and poultry. He is mixing that up with the issue of food standards for imports from Europe.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific risk posed by imported products from countries like Australia was not directly addressed.

How: Mixing Issues

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Q3 Anthony Mangnall
Business & Trade Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

A constituent's entire shipment was seized in France due to a single word missing on the export health certificate, highlighting concerns about challenging such decisions.

Question

This week, Ian Perks had his entire shipment seized in France because he missed out a single word on the export health certificate. Can we find arbitration methods to speed up the process of challenging these situations?

Answer from Steve Barclay

I know my hon. Friend champions very strongly the farming and food sector in his constituency, and that he has raised this issue with my right hon. Friend the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries, who is actively engaged on it.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask about arbitration methods was not directly addressed.

How: Acknowledging Concern But Avoiding Specifics

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