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1718120

registered interest
date	14/05/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Biosecurity: Import Controls
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, following recent press reports, whether the rate of biosecurity checks on goods arriving from the EU at some ports has in practice been "set to zero" to minimise disruption, despite businesses now being charged for all relevant consignments of goods imported into the UK.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL4632
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2024 answer text <p>No, the implementation is happening. The first milestone - health certificates - happened on 31 January 2024. Physical and documentary checks began on April 30th. Medium and high-risk goods posing the greatest biosecurity risk are being prioritised as check levels are scaled up in a sensible and controlled way.</p><p> </p><p>We have not simply copied the EU model but taken the extra time to bring in an effective and innovative system with much lower burdens on business and much less disruption to trade.</p><p> </p><p>Traders should continue to follow the published guidance which sets out BTOM inspection rates.</p><p> </p><p>DEFRA will gradually increase changes in controlled stages to balance biosecurity risk and maintain trade flows whilst minimising disruption at the border.</p><p> </p><p>This will allow the level of goods inspected at the border to be operationally manageable over the introductory stages.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 23/05/2024 09:52:50 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1688812

registered interest
date	12/02/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Meat: Imports
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how they will ensure that all freight vehicles carrying meat present themselves at the Sevington inland border facility having passed through the Port of Dover; and how these vehicles will be monitored and tracked.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL2405
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/03/2024 answer text <p>The Border Target Operating Model is a system deliberately designed to target risk in a proportionate way. It is not intended to carry out checks on all goods. The proportion of a particular commodity type that is required to present for physical checks is determined by the risk categorisation (high, medium or low) of that commodity. Meat products span all three risk categories, and as such will be subject to physical inspection rates between 0% and 100%.</p><p> </p><p>Where a consignment is called to Sevington inland border facility for a physical inspection, those goods will not be legally cleared for sale or use within the UK until they have attended and been cleared at the Border Control Post (BCP). Where the BCP has concerns, either due to non-attendance or evidence of non-compliance, there are existing provisions, including requiring return or destruction of the goods, or for the goods to be referred for inland controls by the local authority. These are part of the established processes for Border Contl facilities like Sevington that sit outside the controlled zone of ports, including those at Liverpool Birkenhead, Newhaven, Portsmouth and Tyne. Other EU ports like Dublin also carry out checks at control posts outside of the port itself.</p><p> </p><p>Goods selected for inspection will not be legally cleared for sale or use within the UK until they have attended and been cleared at the BCP. Where the BCP has concerns, for example due to non-attendance, there are existing provisions for the goods to be referred for inland controls by the local authority. There are also established processes for Border Control facilities that sit outside the controlled zone of ports.</p><p> </p><p>We will look to implement the BTOM in a way that recognises that new requirements are being placed on traders. As a result, we will introduce the BTOM in a way that will focus on improving trader compliance rather than enforcement. However, enforcement will be implemented where there is evidence of deliberate avoidance, fraud or biosecurity concerns.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 11/03/2024 15:52:51 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1688813

registered interest
date	12/02/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Meat: Imports
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what is the tonnage of illegal meat intended for import into the UK seized following UK customs checks in each of the last five years; and what is their assessment of the risk to UK pig farms from African Swine Flu present in consignments of imported meat.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL2406
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2024 answer text <p>The data we have relates to seizures of “products of animal origin, contaminated goods and packaging” (not necessarily just meat) reported to Defra by English PHAs only. Any seizures made by other officials or seizures not reported to Defra are not included here. The data below relates to all EU and Rest of World imports.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of seizures of products of animal origin reported to Defra by English Port Health Authorities</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total weight (kilogrammes)</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022 (w/c 22 October 2022-w/c 31 December 2022 inclusive)</p></td><td><p>42</p></td><td><p>4,123</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023 (w/c 7 January 2023 to 30 December 2023 inclusive)</p></td><td><p>622</p></td><td><p>53,879</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2024 (w/c 6 January 2024 to w/c 27 January 2024 inclusive)</p></td><td><p>45</p></td><td><p>7,572</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>709</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>65,574</strong></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p>There are rules for bringing food or animal products into Great Britain (GB) for personal use, depending on the country that the traveller is coming from. There are restrictions on meat, dairy and other products.</p><p> </p><p>African swine fever (ASF) cases in Europe in 2022 represented new “jumps” in disease distribution towards the United Kingdom. While we consider that the overall risk of entry of ASF virus into the UK from all combined pathways remains at medium, the particular pathway of human-mediated transport of non-commercial, infected products from the EU is considered to be high risk. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) conducts outbreak risk assessments on ASF in the EU, published here <a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gov.uk%2Fgovernment%2Fpublications%2Fafrican-swine-fever-in-pigs-and-boars-in-europe&amp;data=05%7C02%7Cpqteam%40defra.gov.uk%7Ca5af9722cebf49b5be4b08dc4d7223a8%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638470399819769241%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=gE%2FKCR5tKPguo%2FVWa1WsXhdO6LRssdjtdfNmssdCom0%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/african-swine-fever-in-pigs-and-boars-in-europe</a> and attached to this answer.</p><p> </p><p>As a result, we announced controls restricting the movement of pork and pork products into GB to help safeguard Britain's pigs. Travellers are no longer allowed to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms into GB, unless they are produced to the EU’s commercial standards. The controls, which came into force in September 2022, strengthen the standards for bringing pork and pork products into GB from the EU and EFTA states. This measure helps limit possibly infected pig meat being brought into GB through various means, such as in passengers’ luggage or in vehicles.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 02/04/2024 13:10:03 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller attachment 1 file name 25_January_2024_African_swine_fever_in_Europe.pdf title Attachment for HL2406
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1685210

registered interest
date	25/01/2024
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Food: Import Controls
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of the proposed 70 per cent cut in funding from DEFRA from April 2024 for the inspection team of Dover Port Health Authority, and (2) how this will affect the action of this team to maintain UK food safety and security.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL1940
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/03/2024 answer text <p>On the 31 January 2023 we introduced the first stage of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) which balances the need to protect biosecurity with the impact on trade. All port health authorities (PHAs) and local authorities (LAs) undertaking the new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks on EU goods from 30 April 2024 will be able to issue charges to recover their costs in the way they do now for Rest of the World goods. In 2022, Defra began providing a temporary financial support package to PHAs and LAs to retain staff until the introduction of the BTOM. In that time, these staff were focused on supporting wider biosecurity work. This included supporting Border Force with enforcing the temporary African Swine Fever (ASF) safeguard measure on pork and pork products from the EU, in place pending implementation of a new SPS policy for goods intended for personal use.</p><p> </p><p>Defra remains committed to protecting biosecurity and we are confident that this will not negatively impact UK food safety and security. We are working closely with all border stakeholders in the lead up to all implementation dates of new SPS controls. We are working with them to train and upskill staff to ensure that any new controls that are brought in are enacted in an efficient manner so as not to disrupt trade, but which crucially will maintain our high biosecurity standards.</p> answering member printed Lord Douglas-Miller question first answered 26/03/2024 14:26:10 answering member 5006 label Biography information for Lord Douglas-Miller
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1660909

registered interest
date	14/09/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Pesticides: Risk Assessment
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to reform the procedures for risk assessments of biopesticides prior to their approval for release onto the commercial market.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL10193
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/09/2023 answer text <p>The term “biopesticide” covers a diverse group of substances with very different modes of action. They often, but not always, have a lower risk profile than conventional pesticides and we recognise that they can play an important role as part of an integrated pest management approach. We plan to review regulatory processes and data requirements to identify where approvals and permissions for biopesticides can be made simpler and speedier. This should reduce regulatory burdens on applicants and lead to quicker approval timelines, without compromising environmental and human health standards.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 19/09/2023 16:31:12 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1653725

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Canal and River Trust: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government why they are implementing cuts in funding over successive years to the Canal and River Trust, despite their recent review finding that the Canal and River Trust provides "clear value for money"; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in funding on the Trust's ability to raise additional funding from donations.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL9412
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>When the Canal and River Trust was set up in 2012 to replace British Waterways, the Government agreed to provide an annual grant over 15 years to provide a measure of financial stability while the Trust developed alternative income streams. This was on the clear agreement, set out in a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Defra and the Trust at the time, that the Trust would progressively reduce reliance on Government grant funding. During this 15-year period the total value of the grant payments will be around £740 million.</p><p> </p><p>The Government carried out a comprehensive evidence-based review of the grant that recognised the progress made so far. Following this, and while there was no obligation to do so, the Government has agreed to provide the Trust with a further £400 million grant over ten years from 2027 to support their continued efforts towards that end and deliver a safe and resilient canal network. Both the current grant and the new grant from 2027 onwards are primarily to support the Trust’s infrastructure maintenance programme. However, it is an operational matter for the Trust to determine the allocation of funding within their maintenance programme, and Ministers do not have a role in that.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has discussed with the Trust its ability to increase income from other sources, such as rental returns from a property portfolio endowed by Government in 2012 and currently valued at over £1 billion. The Government believes that the Trust will be able to leverage other sources of income to ensure canals and towpaths remain open.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Benyon grouped question UIN HL9413 question first answered 25/07/2023 13:50:57 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1653726

registered interest
date	17/07/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Canal and River Trust: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of cuts in funding to the Canal and River Trust on (1) its ability to maintain and repair the waterway network, (2) the number of resulting canal closures, (3) the maintenance of canals, bridges, locks and other associated infrastructure affected by extreme weather events, and (4) the number of jobs that will be lost, both directly and indirectly, as a result of those funding cuts.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL9413
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/07/2023 answer text <p>When the Canal and River Trust was set up in 2012 to replace British Waterways, the Government agreed to provide an annual grant over 15 years to provide a measure of financial stability while the Trust developed alternative income streams. This was on the clear agreement, set out in a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Defra and the Trust at the time, that the Trust would progressively reduce reliance on Government grant funding. During this 15-year period the total value of the grant payments will be around £740 million.</p><p> </p><p>The Government carried out a comprehensive evidence-based review of the grant that recognised the progress made so far. Following this, and while there was no obligation to do so, the Government has agreed to provide the Trust with a further £400 million grant over ten years from 2027 to support their continued efforts towards that end and deliver a safe and resilient canal network. Both the current grant and the new grant from 2027 onwards are primarily to support the Trust’s infrastructure maintenance programme. However, it is an operational matter for the Trust to determine the allocation of funding within their maintenance programme, and Ministers do not have a role in that.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has discussed with the Trust its ability to increase income from other sources, such as rental returns from a property portfolio endowed by Government in 2012 and currently valued at over £1 billion. The Government believes that the Trust will be able to leverage other sources of income to ensure canals and towpaths remain open.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Lord Benyon grouped question UIN HL9412 question first answered 25/07/2023 13:50:57 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1644498

registered interest
date	13/06/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Environment Protection: Wales
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Government of Wales on the need to establish a permanent environmental governance body to enable compliance with legal obligations under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Aarhus Convention.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL8447
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/06/2023 answer text <p>My Department is in regular contact with the Welsh Government (alongside other Devolved Governments) regarding environmental governance. The Welsh Government has set out its intention to establish a Commission for the environment and has appointed an interim complaints assessor.</p><p> </p><p>The UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (which reflects within it certain obligations under the Aarhus Convention to which the UK is also a signatory) places obligations on the parties to ensure that their competent authorities (which enforce relevant law with regard to environment and climate) give due consideration to alleged breaches of law, and that there are sufficient remedies available, dissuasive sanctions and judicial proceedings accessible to natural and legal persons.</p><p> </p><p>The UK has a well-established environment regulatory and enforcement regime. Regulators such as the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Health and Safety Executive, local authorities and their equivalents across the Devolved Administrations have the powers to regulate or take enforcement action against third parties such as business.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 23/06/2023 13:42:43 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1612112

registered interest
date	18/04/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Electric Vehicles: Batteries
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government (1) what plans they have to create a new regulatory framework for electric vehicle battery recycling, (2) when such plans will be implemented, (3) whether they will include making "second life" mandatory, and (4) whether they will introduce (a) standardised labelling to facilitate recycling, and (b) a mandatory minimum level of recycled content.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL7231
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2023 answer text <p>Defra is currently reviewing the existing UK Batteries Regulations, and a consultation is scheduled for the end of 2023. The review is expected to consider a range of measures promoting the recovery, reuse or recycling of all battery chemistry types in line with the waste hierarchy. This includes those batteries found in electric vehicles.</p><p> </p><p>Electric vehicle batteries are no longer viable once they drop below 80% efficiency. By working with the relevant industries and Government departments, the Environment Agency is looking to produce an effective Electric Vehicle Batteries Resource Framework. The framework will look to set out end of waste criteria for electric vehicle batteries when put to second life applications or dismantled to constituent parts for recovery of metals. The main purpose to this framework is to embed the circular economy approach to end of waste for this waste stream.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 25/04/2023 11:36:56 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson

1589010

registered interest
date	23/02/2023
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Inland Waterways: Freight
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the guidelines followed by the Environment Agency so that priority is given to proposals and planning applications that enable access to freight transported on waterways, rather than roads; and what account the Environment Agency takes of the emission reductions and health benefits of moving freight from roads to waterways.
tabling member printed	Baroness Randerson
uin	HL5858
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2023 answer text <p>The Department for Transport operates two freight revenue grant schemes to encourage modal shift from road to rail or water. These are Mode Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) for rail and inland waterways and Waterborne Freight Grant (WFG) for coastal and short sea shipping.</p><p> </p><p>MSRS assists companies with the operating costs associated with running rail or inland water freight transport instead of road, where rail or inland waterway transport is more expensive. WFG can assist a company with the operating costs associated with running waterborne freight transport instead of road, where transport by water is more expensive.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has committed £20 million per year towards these two schemes.</p><p> </p><p>The MSRS grants are awarded through a competitive bid round process and applications are considered for funding on the basis of value for money.</p><p> </p><p>The amount of grant is capped by the estimated benefit of the mode shift, calculated by using Mode Shift Benefit Values (MSBs). The MSBs are an estimate of the economic, environmental and other social benefits of removing one lorry mile of freight from the road and transferring it to rail or water.</p><p> </p><p>The MSRS grant scheme helps remove up to 900,000 lorry journeys per year from Britain’s roads, saving up to 58,000 tonnes of CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and has been a vital tool for supporting the Government’s environmental priorities.</p> answering member printed Lord Benyon question first answered 17/03/2023 12:15:45 answering member 1547 label Biography information for Lord Benyon
tabling member	4230 label Biography information for Baroness Randerson