Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Hayman of Ullock and the noble Lord, Lord Sarfraz, on their great maiden speeches and look forward to hearing them in the future. This has been an extraordinarily long Second Reading and an exceptional one in many respects. However, I think it is worth reflecting on the fact that some of the topics on which there have been the strongest feelings...
Luke Pollard: I agree. At least British Ministers will not have to utter the phrase, “It won’t get through Parliament,” because Parliament has, sadly, voted itself out of having a say, making it one of the few Parliaments in the world that will not have a say on any trade deals with Britain. Let me address briefly some of the reasons the Minister gave for not supporting the amendments, because it is...
Lord Grantchester: I thank the noble Lords who have returned with these amendments from the debates in Committee on provisions in Part 5, Clauses 35 to 37, on marketing standards. Regulations around marketing, labelling, traceability, country of origin and GI schemes remain critical to providing accurate and appropriate information to the consumer. The complexities behind the list of EU Commission delegated...
Lord Rooker: ..., I was going to opt out altogether because I did not want to repeat anything that anyone else had said. Certainly, I support the questions that the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, asked at the beginning of the debate and, frankly, I expect the Minister to answer all six of them. They were quite specific. It is worth pointing out that, unlike Ministers, the Food Standards Agency is actually...
Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville: My Lords, I also congratulate the Minister and the right revered Prelate the Bishop of Blackburn on their maiden speeches. I wish to speak about the impact of the Bill on food and farming. During the passage of the Agriculture Bill, it was made abundantly clear that the food and farming industries are extremely concerned about the Government’s push to secure trade deals with some countries...
Lord Grantchester: If there is one strong theme running through many of the amendments, it is that of standards. I am grateful to all noble Lords who have raised concerns, whether on animal health and welfare, on husbandry methods in agriculture and horticulture, on environmental and climate aspects, on food, nutrition and labelling the final product, or on intra-UK relationships and international aspects at...
Victoria Prentis: Defra officials meet retail representatives regularly and frequently to discuss delivery of food labelling rules, including those on food origin, and this is a topic of interest for the regular F4 meetings between Defra Ministers and retailers and producers. The UK maintains high standards of food label information, including on food origin labelling, through our legislation on the...
Baroness Neville-Rolfe: In moving this amendment, I remind the Committee again of my interest as chair of Assured Food Standards, commonly known as Red Tractor—a world-leading food chain assurance scheme used, in some form, by every major retailer and food service operator in the UK. It is owned by the entire food chain and allows the free flow of certified food and drink across the UK. Part 5 of the Bill,...
Lord Grantchester: I thank all noble Lords for their amendments in this group on marketing standards. The large number of amendments reflects many thoughtful contributions around the scope of the provisions in Part 5, Clauses 35 to 37. As previously, I declare my agricultural interests as recorded on the register. I congratulate my previous colleague and noble friend Lady Worthington on leading the group with...
Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville: My Lords, these two amendments in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, and the noble Lord, Lord Campbell-Savours, deal with the identification and traceability of animals. The highest standards of traceability are essential. The British public, whether they live in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland or England, are very interested in where the food they eat comes from....
Lord Rooker: My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to say a few brief words in support of what I think is the key amendment, Amendment 173. We need a national food plan. We heard very strategic speeches from my noble friend Lord Hain and the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, and other members of his committee, but it has to be a national plan. I say to the Minister that something like this new clause will be in the...
Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to bring forward (a) regulations and (b) legislative proposals to ensure that products offered for sale (i) online and (ii) in other markets are adequately labelled with their principal country of origin to enable shoppers to (A) buy British and (B) avoid purchasing from...
Lord Carrington: My Lords, what plans do the Government have to introduce country of origin labelling on imported plants and trees, together with the vital dissemination of information on relevant diseases to UK nurseries and distributers?
Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2020 to Question 49873 on food labelling, how many times food labelling has been found to have breached the updated rules that state the country of origin or place of provenance of a primary ingredient, which is not the same as that given or indicated on a food as a whole, must also be...
Lord Gardiner of Kimble: ...I will seek to follow up in writing those questions either that I have not covered or which require further embellishment. I was struck by some noble Lords’ words because there are some elements of this debate that I think have been unduly negative, but I agree with the noble Lords, Lord Grantchester and Lord McConnell, that there are great opportunities for what we are going to be...
Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring more detailed and extensive labelling of the country of origin on food products.
Richard Bacon: Given that there is already mandatory country of origin labelling for fish, fruit, vegetables, eggs, wine, honey, olive oil and beef, does the Secretary of State agree that now is the right time for mandatory country of origin labelling for all meat, so that consumers can never be misled by dodgy imports produced in conditions that would be unlawful here and which are sold as if they were British?
Lord Gardiner of Kimble: In the UK we maintain high standards on information provided to consumers about their food, including the labelling of our high quality meat and dairy products. This is done through our legislation on the provision of food information and although food is a devolved matter, the same rules currently apply across all of the UK The rules are based on the fundamental principle that information...
Chi Onwurah: ...if I say that I shall be pressing the Minister to address how the investment will be coming to Newcastle and the north-east. Through this debate, I hope we can gain a greater understanding of the significant opportunity for our recycling sector across the country, but particularly the contribution that the north-east can make. The most common battery types in modern electric cars are...
Edwin Poots: They will, yes, because, in the current circumstance, we are part of the single market, but we are also part of the UK customs arrangements, so we are in a slightly different position from everybody else. Some elements of that give us an advantage. Having the ability to sell with zero tariffs to both the EU and the UK gives us an advantage, even in terms of businesses that wish to settle in...