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Dogs: Imports | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers


The Government takes the illegal importation of puppies seriously and does put in place deterrents to the illegal import of puppies into the United Kingdom Control Zone at Coquelles. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is responsible for ensuring there are effective controls to prevent illegal movements into the Control Zone. APHA require approved carriers, in the case of Coquelles, Eurotunnel, to check 100% of animals travelling under the Pet Travel Scheme for compliance before they are permitted to enter the Control Zone. There is a formal agreement in place which details how Eurotunnel must carry out this function.


APHA has always carried out periodic inspections in the Control Zone to ensure that the carrier company’s checks are effective. Our approach to these pet animal checks and compliance monitoring has not changed. In addition APHA has also worked with carriers on specific intelligence led operations to identify and seize illegally imported puppies. APHA works with all carriers approved to transport pet animals and is currently in discussion on proposals to strengthen the effectiveness of the checks they are required to carry out.


Agriculture: Subsidies | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Since 1 January 2016, 1,729 claimants have received payments of around £50 million which were made outside the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 window which runs between 1 December 2015 and 30 June 2016.

Agriculture: Subsidies | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

CAP Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments for England are set in Euros and then converted into sterling. The exchange rate used is an average of the European Central Bank exchange rates set in September each year. There are no monthly variances. The rates used for BPS payments in 2015 and 2016 are:

BPS exchange rate for 2015 was €1 = £0.73129.

BPS exchange rate for 2016 is €1 = £0.85228.

The 2016 basic payment is expected to be around 19% higher than in 2015 for all farm types, reflecting the weaker exchange rate when payment rates in sterling were determined at the end of September 2016.

School Milk: East Midlands | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Information by Westminster Constituency or English region on the number of children aged over five receiving subsidised milk under the scheme is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Pets: Sales | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

We are working closely with representatives of local authorities, the pet industry and animal welfare organisations on developing competency standards for animal licensing inspectors as part of the review of local authority animal licensing schemes. The work is at an early stage and will complement the development of new regulations following last month’s publication of Defra’s Next Steps document on animal licensing.

Fishing Catches: EU Countries | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

An estimate of the total bass catch for 2017 at EU level as a result of the management measures agreed for this year can only be made by the European Commission, as it holds the relevant catch and by-catch data at Member State level.

Fish: Falkland Islands | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

The information requested is in the below table. The figures were sourced from the UN Comtrade Website

Falklands fish exports (GBP) To the EU (28)

2011

£95,505,052

2012

£106,320,512

2013

£89,833,453

2014

£90,405,793

2015

£92,916,305

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Natural England, as the licensing authority, monitors the culls to assess compliance with licence conditions and Best Practice Guides. If, as part of this, Natural England identifies a compliance issue then Natural England may request that a carcass is subject to a post-mortem examination by exception. This was done on one occasion in 2016.

Additionally, during 2013 to 2015, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carried out post-mortem examinations of badger carcasses that were dispatched by controlled shooting. Carcasses were selected for examination at random. Further details on monitoring and post-mortem examinations are published on GOV.UK

Avian Influenza: Eggs | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Following the announcement on 24 February of a more targeted approach, most egg producers in England can now let their birds outside, provided they meet the additional biosecurity measures that we have put in place. Producers in the higher risk areas can market their eggs as free-range if they come from birds which meet all the other requirements for free-range and are allowed into fully-fenced areas which are fully covered by netting. A number of retailers have said that they remain committed to their free range egg producers and will continue to support them during this time. On this basis, we do not anticipate any significant disruption to sales. We will continue to monitor market developments in conjunction with the industry.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Senior Civil Servants | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2017 to question 65555, the number of Senior Civil Servants that were employed by Defra as at 31 December 2016 was 77.

Livestock: Exports | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

The Government continues to undertake a range of analyses to inform the UK’s position for the upcoming EU exit negotiations. We are determined to get the best possible deal for the UK in our negotiations to leave the EU, which allows frictionless trade in goods and services and the opportunity to reach new agreements with countries around the world.

Vegetables | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Our horticultural sector produces a wide range of excellent, healthy products. The sector continues to innovate and use new technologies which have enabled it to take advantage of market opportunities both at home and overseas. The Government is keen to work with the horticulture sector to build on this success and help it flourish.

Organophosphates | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

The Government has no plans to limit the currently authorised uses of glyphosate. Like all pesticides, glyphosate is subject to restrictions to ensure that its use will not harm people or have unacceptable effects on the environment. UK experts agree with the recent assessment of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that the use of glyphosate does not raise safety concerns.

Circuses: Animal Welfare | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Since its introduction in January 2013, only two circuses have been licensed under the Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012.

Costs to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) for the day-to-day administration of the licensing scheme are covered by the application fee payable each year by a circus. The application fee is set at £389.36. For the period 2013 to 2017, APHA have received £3,893.60 in applications fees from the two licensed circuses.

Costs of inspections under the licensing scheme are also paid for by licensed circuses. Inspection fees are set at £72.53 per hour and inspectors can also claim reasonable travel and subsistence costs. For the period 2013 to date, the total costs of inspections incurred by the two licensed circuses are £23,555.76.

Agriculture: Subsidies | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

The Basic Payment Scheme payment window runs from 1st December to 30th June each scheme year. Since January 2016 the Rural Payments Agency has paid £5075m outside of the Basic Payment Scheme payment window and £2,430m within.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Defra’s Guidance to Natural England (NE) on licences to kill or take badgers for the purpose of disease control published in 2011 specified a duration of 6 weeks. In 2015, to increase the likelihood of achieving a significant reduction of the badger population and thereby disease control, Defra consulted on giving provision to NE to keep the duration of the cull period under review, without specifying in the licence an initial limit on its duration.

In December 2015, Defra published updated Guidance to this effect. The duration of the cull period must achieve a balance between sufficient intensity to achieve disease control and what is realistically deliverable by a cull company.

Slaughterhouses: Regulation | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Under EU regulations, full responsibility for animal welfare and food safety in slaughterhouses rests with business operators who must meet legislative requirements in terms of slaughterhouse design, layout and equipment. Business operators are responsible for ensuring that the welfare needs of the animals in their care are met.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA)’s’s key functions in England and Wales include monitoring the hygienic production of meat and ensuring animals are protected prior to and during slaughter. The FSA issues certificates of competence for slaughterers and other operatives working with animals, making sure they have the right training and competence for the types of animals they are handling and the duties they are carrying out. The FSA also enforces legislation relating to animal welfare at slaughter. This work is carried out on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England, and the Welsh Government in Wales. In Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development carries out this function.

All official controls in the UK for food and feed production and animal health and welfare are subject to external audit by the EU Commission’s Food and Veterinary Audit division.

Agriculture: Subsidies | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

The Government has guaranteed that the agricultural sector will receive the same level of funding that it would have received under Pillar I of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) until the end of the Multi-Annual Financial Framework in 2020. The last payment window in this Multi-Annual Financial Framework will be that which opens on 1 December 2019 and runs until 30 June 2020.

We will be announcing details of future domestic agricultural policy as soon as possible in order to provide certainty for farmers

Agriculture: Subsidies | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

An error has been identified in the written answer given on 06 March 2017.
The correct answer should have been:

The Basic Payment Scheme payment window runs from 1st December to 30th June each scheme year. Since January 2016 the Rural Payments Agency has paid £5075m outside of the Basic Payment Scheme payment window and £2,430m within.

Badgers: Vaccination | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Written Answers

Defra works on the development of an oral bovine TB vaccine for badgers in partnership with the Irish and French governments, as well as the Devolved Administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland. This is through the form of a joint project board. The study in Ireland, which involved the administering of vaccine directly to anaesthetised badgers, contributed to that partnership work. Work is now being done in preparation for a further study by Defra’s Animal and Plant Health Agency later this year to assess the protection from infection that may be achieved through consumption by badgers of a candidate oral vaccine in bait, the results of which will help determine the extent to which such a vaccine may play a part in national TB programmes.

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