The government believes in improving transparency for the consumer where practical. Within the EU, the UK argued for the extension of Country of Origin Labelling on fresh meats to include pork, poultry, lamb and goat meat which has applied since April 2015. There has been a requirement for Country of Origin labelling on beef since 2000. The UK has also supported Country of Origin Labelling for lightly processed dairy products such as butter and cheese and for lightly processed meat products such as bacon where this does not place unnecessary costs on businesses. We have also supported comprehensive voluntarily schemes, complementing the mandatory rules, covering many processed meat and dairy products. However, leaving the EU gives us an opportunity to consider the scope for further changes to the law in this area.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3934", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for George Eustice"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Camborne and Redruth"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "George Eustice"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-09-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-09-21T13:14:55.483Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2017-09-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Food: Origin Marking"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to extend country of origin labelling and related geographical origin protections to dairy and processed meat products after the UK leaves the EU.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4488", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Martyn Day"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Linlithgow and East Falkirk"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Martyn Day"} ], "uin" : "9812"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/747692", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/747692/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Digital Transformation Programme is targeting the redevelopment and improvement of key Defra services to make them easier for customers to interact with the department, and to make cost efficiencies through the use of more modern and flexible technology that is better able to support Defra's services through changing requirements. Different areas of work within the Programme are looking at different services provided by Defra, most of which are already online. However, there are a number of projects and work streams which will deliver reductions of the amount of manual processing on paper. These include:<\/p>
<\/p>
- Farm Services Management: through the roll-out of a new scheduling and data capture tool which, in conjunction with new mobile devices, will reduce the amount of paper-recording by APHA inspectors.<\/p>
- Animal Disease Testing Service: which provides a digital alternative to written requests from Vets for disease tests for animals.<\/p>
- Fishing Rod Licenses: by providing an easier digital application process, so reducing the proportions of requests through telephone or over-the-counter channels.<\/p>
<\/p>
These are important benefits of the Digital Transformation Programme. But the main focus of the Programme is to replace old systems with newer ones that are more cost effective and easier for customers to use.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3934", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for George Eustice"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Camborne and Redruth"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "George Eustice"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-07-11", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-07-11T11:50:09.453Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2017-07-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: ICT"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the amount of manual processing on paper that it carries out and to make such processing digital.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4488", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Martyn Day"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Linlithgow and East Falkirk"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Martyn Day"} ], "uin" : "2594"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/731292", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/731292/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government is working with food businesses through a voluntary approach to reduce food waste, including through redistribution when surplus food cannot be avoided. Business signatories to the Courtauld 2025 Commitment are aiming to double the amount of food surplus they send for redistribution between 2015 and 2020. We do not have plans to legislate.<\/p>
<\/strong><\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4098", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Suffolk Coastal"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Dr Thérèse Coffey"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2017-06-30", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2017-06-30T12:03:02.523Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2017-06-21", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Food: Charitable Donations"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that more surplus food is redistributed by retailers to charities supporting those experiencing hunger and food poverty.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4488", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Martyn Day"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Linlithgow and East Falkirk"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Martyn Day"} ], "uin" : "63"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }