Tag: Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Environment Secretary Steve Barclay set out a package of support for Ukraine while addressing the international community at the Kyiv International Summit: Grain from Ukraine today – showing the UK’s solidarity with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprovoked assault.

In his video address to the conference, the Secretary of State reaffirmed the UK’s support for President Zelenskyy’s Grain from Ukraine initiative, with £3 million of additional funding to enable shipments of Ukrainian grain to Nigeria in 2024, coordinated through the World Food Programme. This follows £5 million that the UK contributed to the initiative in 2022, which facilitated lifesaving grain shipments to Kenya.

The event comes on the day Ukraine marks Holodomor Memorial Day – the famine caused by the Soviet government forcibly seizing grain and other food from Ukrainians in 1932-33 leading to the deaths of at least 3.9 million people.

After tearing up the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia destroyed over 280,000 tonnes of grain in one month, which could have fed over 1.25 million people for a year. In the face of these relentless and targeted attacks on ports and grain infrastructure, the initiative ensures Ukrainian grain still reaches those most in need while protecting global food security, keeping prices down and strengthening markets.

Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said:

From our government to our farmers, our solidarity with the people of Ukraine remains cast iron. The UK is committed to ensuring Ukraine can continue to export grain to those most in need.

I am also proud we will be able to share the UK and Defra’s expertise to help Ukraine’s farmland and nature recover from the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka Dam and the impact of the conflict.

Environment Secretary Steve Barclay also updated the conference on the development of our Grain Verification Scheme, which is being backed with £2 million in UK funding. The scheme will use cutting edge science to determine where grain has been grown and harvested – supporting Ukraine’s efforts to trace and stop theft of grain from occupied regions. Further information on the scheme will be unveiled early next year.

Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has also had a disastrous impact on Ukraine’s natural environment. During his speech, the Secretary of State noted the UK’s support to help restore contaminated agricultural land and nature in Ukraine that have been devastated from both flooding and conflict. This includes in June when the Environment Agency provided £16 million of flood equipment, including pumps and temporary barriers, following the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam which led to widespread flooding and damage.

As part of the Grain from Ukraine programme, Ukraine has sent 170 thousand tonnes of grain to countries experiencing the greatest food insecurity, including Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen. The programme is planned to be expanded to other countries in need with the UK providing a further £3 million, which was previously announced by the Prime Minister at the G20 Summit, to fund a shipment of Ukrainian grain to Nigeria.

The Kyiv International Summit: Grain from Ukraine brought together more than 60 leaders of countries and organisations, covering strengthening Ukraine’s humanitarian role with global food security, expanding the Grain from Ukraine initiative, both in terms of funding and recipient countries, encouraging business involvement in the initiative, coordinating activity to end blockage of and attacks on Black Sea ports by Russia.

The UK’s agri-food and drink attachés were welcomed to 10 Downing Street this morning, marking the start of a week meeting ministers and the nation’s food producers.

The eleven attachés based in British embassies and consulates around the world – in Canada, Mexico, USA, Brazil, Kenya, The Gulf, India, Japan, China, Thailand and Vietnam – work to remove trade barriers, identify emerging international markets and tap into growing demand worldwide for quality goods from UK farmers and producers.

In 2023 alone, the attachés have supported the government in resolving 42 agri-food barriers worth an estimated £340 million per year, with 141 new market access agreements delivered since 2020. Their recent successes include securing market access for poultry to Tunisia, sheep embryos to the USA, pork to Chile, trout ova to China and pet food to South Korea.

This week they will tour the UK, from meeting with producers of whisky and seafood in Scotland to visiting egg farms and meat processors in Shropshire. The attachés will gain first-hand experience of food production and deepen their understanding of the farmers and producers whose interests they represent overseas.

Secretary of State for Food and Farming Steve Barclay said:

Backing British farmers is one of my priorities at Defra and our attachés do vital work to ensure they get the best possible deals to export their world-class produce.

We are expanding the attaché network even further next year, so that our excellent food and drink can continue to reach all corners of the globe.

While in the UK, the attachés will meet with Food and Farming Minister Mark Spencer and attend an industry brunch hosted by NFU President Minette Batters, in addition to further meetings with the Scotch Whisky Association, Seafood Scotland, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) and the Food and Drink Export Council.

The week provides an opportunity for the attachés to build their relationships with these key stakeholders and share learnings and insights with each other.

Food and Farming Minister Mark Spencer said:

I look forward to meeting with our agri-food attachés in Westminster this week and thanking them for the brilliant work they do on behalf of our farmers and food producers.

The best of British food and drink is now being enjoyed around the world, from Canada to Vietnam – in part thanks to their skilled negotiating and dedication to seeking out new export opportunities.

Minister for Exports Lord Offord said:

Growing the agri, food and drink sector is key to boosting our economy and will be vital in our race to reach £1 trillion of exports by 2030.

Thanks to the work of our agri-food attachés, we’re helping more businesses break into new markets and benefit from exciting new opportunities across the world.

Defra’s agri-food attaché for Africa said:

Africa is poised to be one of the world’s biggest global consumer markets, with a growing middle class and a keen appetite for UK products.

I am thrilled to take part in the attaché engagement week and look forward to meeting with farmers and food producers to discuss how I can help send Scottish salmon to Morocco, whisky to Kenya, poultry to West and Central Africa, and renowned British confectionary to Egypt.

At the Prime Minister’s Farm to Fork Summit in May, it was announced that five additional attachés would be recruited to expand the network further – attachés covering the regions of Australia and New Zealand; North Europe; South Europe; South Korea and an additional attaché in Africa are expected to be in post by May 2024.

NFU President Minette Batters said:

Agri-food attachés play a vital role in delivering our shared ambition of boosting high-quality, climate-friendly British exports abroad which is why we campaigned to grow their number. I’m delighted this network has increased in recent months and I hope it will continue given the incredibly important work they do.

I look forward to working directly with the attachés this week to share the passion and knowledge within our sector, and ultimately help give them the tools to be the best ambassadors possible for great British produce overseas.

Dr Phil Hadley, AHDB International Trade Development Director, said:

We are delighted to play a part in hosting the visit of the government’s agri-food attachés. AHDB recognises the valuable role they play in helping drive export growth. We applaud the government’s continued efforts to expand the agri-food attaché network further to maximise opportunities for our products in global markets.

One of AHDB’s key strategic objectives is export development, working collaboratively with industry and government, to cultivate further opportunities for our red meat and dairy sectors. The visit of the agri-food attachés will help cement our shared ambition to continue delivering export growth for our high-quality produce.

Donna Fordyce, CEO of Seafood Scotland said:

The attachés will visit a Bakkafrost salmon farm, which will include a boat trip to see the pens and discover how the fish are carefully reared in a healthy environment.  Scotland’s aquaculture sector is of great importance to our nation’s economy and we are proud to showcase best practice in action.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the industry – and us – to engage with attachés from around the world, who each do so much to support our sector with market access and development opportunities.

Ian McKendrick, International Director at the Scotch Whisky Association, said:

Supporting our member companies to reduce and remove barriers to trade in established and emerging markets is a key priority, and we work closely with the agri-food and drink attachés and DEFRA to secure the best possible international environment for Scotch Whisky.

The placement of attachés in key markets around the world, means their input, analysis and market intelligence is a vital channel of information for the industry.

We are pleased to be able to host them on a fact-finding mission to Scotland, so they can deepen their knowledge of Scotch Whisky and the industry’s priorities so they are better able to speak with authority on issues which impact the industry, and help drive export growth.

A Call for Evidence to explore the proposal for a Tenant Farming Commissioner and encourage more collaborative tenant-landlord and advisor relationships has been launched by the government today (Thursday 16 November).

The Call for Evidence will build on important insights from the Rock Review by seeking industry views on the extent of poor practice in the sector – such as a lack of communication between landlords, tenants and their advisors on key business issues such as tenancy renewal and rent reviews – and how to encourage more collaborative tenant-landlord and advisor relationships.

It will also gather evidence on whether existing ways to register complaints in the industry are effective in addressing poor practice and examine the potential role of an independent Tenant Farming Commissioner who would provide more scrutiny of conduct in the sector and promote codes of good practice.

Farming Minister Mark Spencer said:

Tenant farmers are at the heart of our rural economy. We’ve made significant progress in delivering our response to the Rock Review, including making our Environment Land Management schemes more accessible to tenant farmers, and will continue to work closely with tenants, landlords and the wider industry to drive further positive change.

The Call for Evidence is a further important step forward in achieving this and I encourage farmers, landlords and advisors to express their views to their relevant trade body to make sure experiences from all parts of the sector are heard.

Today’s announcement builds on the significant progress the government has already made to deliver on key recommendations from the Rock Review.

This includes the establishment of the Farm Tenancy Forum in July 2023 to prioritise the delivery of the commitments in the Government response to the Rock Review. This Forum is made up of industry representatives of tenant farmers, landlords and professional advisors and is working to consider the unique challenges facing the sector, facilitate more collaborative relationships between landlords and tenants, and help shape farming policy.

We are also making our Environmental Land Management schemes more accessible to tenant farmers, with thousands of farmers on tenanted and mixed land having expressed an interest in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and over half of applications in the first round of our Landscape Recovery scheme involving tenanted land.

The government is also:

• Working with the sector to develop a new Code of Practice setting standards of responsible conduct for all parties to tenancy agreements.
• Committed to offering more actions on three-year agreements under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) without requiring landlord consent from 2024.
• Encouraging collaboration with a wide range of land managers, including tenant farmers, through our Landscape Recovery Scheme.
• Exploring support for New Entrants through a pilot scheme earlier this year where over 80% of participants who took part came from a non-farming family background. The pilots looked at how we can best support people to enter the sector and increase their opportunities to access land and finance, including support on pitching for tenancies.
• Tracking data on the amount of land in the tenanted sector to pick up any emerging trends on land resumption and looking for ways to identify drivers of change.

This comes as the government is providing more than £168 million in grants this year across the industry, including tenant farmers, to drive innovation, support food production, improve animal health and welfare and protect the environment.

The Call for Evidence will run for 12 weeks until 8 February 2024. Industry trade organisations and professional bodies representing the views and interests of tenant farmers, landlords and professional advisors, as well as from sector experts and forums who have insights and experience within the industry, are invited to respond.

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

• This is a targeted Call for Evidence which has been issued to industry organisations and professional bodies representing the views and interests of tenant farmers, landlords, and professional advisors who work in the tenant farming sector. The Call for Evidence will be open for 12 weeks to ensure that industry organisations and professional bodies have time to engage with their wider membership to gather views on the issues we are exploring. We will also invite responses from other sector experts, and organisations who may have insights, experience, and evidence on the issues we are exploring in this Call for Evidence.
• The Government Response to the Rock Review was published in May 2023 Government response to the Rock Review: full report – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• The Rock Review was published in October 2022, led by Baroness Rock and the Tenancy Working Group, with input from all parts of the tenanted sector including tenants, landlords and agents: Rock Review: working together for a thriving agricultural tenanted sector
• The joint industry and government Farm Tenancy Forum was established in July 2023 with a key focus on supporting the delivery pf the government response to the Rock Review, the Terms of Reference and membership can be found here: Farm Tenancy Forum: terms of reference – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A new environmental principles duty – a measure to ensure the environment is at the heart of governmental policy making – comes into force today (Wednesday 1 November).

The duty reflects the government’s commitment to leaving the environment in a better state for future generations, ensuring that green issues are taken into account throughout the decision-making process. This will help the government to meet the targets outlined in the Environmental Improvement Plan and will ensure that environmental impacts are always given due consideration when policy is drafted.

Under the duty, ministers and policy makers must consider the environmental impact of new policies, following a framework of key principles:

• The integration principle, which is the principle that environmental protection should be integrated into the making of policies.
• The prevention principle, which states that government policy makers should aim to prevent environmental harm.
• The rectification at source principle, which means that policy should address environmental damage at the source, to avoid the need to remedy its effects later.
• The polluter pays principle, which states that where possible, the costs of environmental damage should be borne by those causing it, rather than the person who suffers the effects of the resulting environmental damage, or the wider community.
• The precautionary principle, which provides that where the threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage exists, a lack of scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

The duty applies to new or revised policies made across government, with exceptions for national security and spending decisions, and delivers on commitments included in the Environment Act 2021 for Ministers of the Crown to have legal due regard to these principles.

Nature Minister Trudy Harrison said:

This government has gone further and faster to protect nature than any other, and the introduction of this duty further reaffirms our commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we found it.

Considering the environment across government policy will support our wider efforts to restore halt species loss and protect our much-loved landscapes, green spaces and the marine environment.

The principles are designed to guide policymakers towards opportunities to prevent environmental damage and enhance the environment. These are internationally recognised as successful benchmarks for environmental protection and enhancement.

The duty is outlined in detail in the Environmental Principles Policy Statement, published earlier this year, which outlines how to interpret and proportionately apply the principles. Ministers and the officials advising them on policy need to thoroughly consider these principles throughout the policy development process.

Work has been underway to implement the new duty across government, including working with policymakers, lawyers and analysts.

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) will monitor and report on implementation of the duty across government.

Environmental protection is devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, subject to a small number of reserved areas. Therefore, each devolved administration can legislate individually for the Environmental Principles in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively.

British farmers and growers will continue to have access to important pesticides to support resilient and profitable food production and cut input costs, the government has announced today.

Following feedback from farmers and industry, these plans will ensure farmers and growers can continue to buy and use seeds treated with EU-approved pesticides, and more cost-effective pesticides identical to those authorised in Great Britain can continue being imported.

The plans will not only provide certainty to farmers so they know which treated seeds and plant protection products they can use in coming growing seasons, but will also help improve the availability and reduce the cost of pesticides.

These treated seeds are important for both the arable and horticulture sectors and are particularly important for maize – a crop that is crucial for dairy farmers and in energy production.

The government shared these plans with Parliament yesterday which, once agreed, will come into force by the end of the year. This means there will be no break in the existing treated seed schemes (currently due to expire on 31 December), so that farmers can buy and use treated seeds ready for next growing season.

These measures will provide the agricultural industry and farming communities with valuable time to adapt, whilst also ensuring that we continue to support our farmers to put affordable and high-quality food on our tables.

Farming Minister Mark Spencer said:

The government recognises the challenges faced by farmers and growers in importing treated seeds and more cost-effective pesticide products from the EU as the transition period concludes.

Ensuring that British farmers and growers have access to the tools they need to produce food sustainably and affordably is a priority. The measures announced today will address the potential impacts and concerns raised by our valued farming sector.

Under current timelines, farmers and growers were set to lose access to these products at the end of this year. However, the temporary measures will enable farmers and growers in Great Britain to:

• Continue using seeds treated with plant protection products authorised for use in the EU for an additional 3.5 years, extending up to 1 July 2027.
• Reinstate trade permits for the import of PPPs that are identical to those authorised in Great Britain for a maximum of two years.

Continuing to give farmers access to these products will help to improve their availability and reduce costs, while providing certainty for the sector over the coming years.

In the long term, this change will ensure manufacturers have time to submit full applications for GB authorisations for seed treatments in order to ensure that they can continue to benefit from the UK market. They have heard from farmers and understand the demand – the regulator will continue working with industry to support them in submitting successful applications.

We are also encouraging farmers to develop and adapt their practices, including through integrated pest management approaches, which can increase resilience by diversifying crop protection techniques. We are already supporting farmers to increase their use of integrated pest management – including through new paid actions such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme’s integrated pest management Standard which includes payments to carry out an assessment and produce an integrated pest management plan.

The bureaucratic Common Agricultural Policy disproportionately rewarded the largest landowners and held back smaller farmers, while delivering little for food productivity or the environment.

The government will continue to make improvements to our Environmental Land Management schemes to ensure they work best for farmers, such as bringing forward early payments in a way which would not have been possible under the Common Agricultural Policy.

The 2023 offer has been expanded and made more flexible in response to farmer feedback with over 23 paid-for actions now on offer including improving hedgerows, nutrient management, farmland wildlife and low input grassland. Other improvements mean that farmers can choose what combination of actions are right for them – unlike previously where actions were grouped into standards.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• The measures are set out in a draft affirmative Statutory Instrument which was laid in Parliament yesterday: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2023/9780348252651/pdfs/ukdsi_9780348252651_en.pdf
• These measures must be agreed through the Houses of Parliament before they are made into law.

Seed Treatments:

• After exiting the EU, the government put arrangements in place until the end of 2023 to continue the import and use of seeds treated in the EU. However, recognising the importance of the scheme, we have today laid secondary legislation in Parliament to introduce an extension to measures that allow seeds treated with PPPs authorised for use in an EU or EEA member state to be imported, marketed and used in GB for an additional three-and-a-half years, up to 1 July 2027.
• Following these proposals, manufacturers will have the opportunity to submit applications for full PPP authorisations for seed treatments, covering both existing and new products.
• Simultaneously, farmers and growers will have the flexibility to consider utilising new products and alternative methods as part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach. Notably, the government is already assisting farmers in increasing their adoption of IPM, including through newly introduced incentivised actions in the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme, which was announced earlier this year.

Parallel Trade:

• The arrangements put in place at the point of the EU exit aimed to smooth the transition to a GB regime without parallel trade. However, global events have led to price increases across a range of important sectors, meaning that the need to access cost effective PPPs has become more acute.
• Therefore, in response to stakeholder concern from across farming industry, we have today also laid secondary legislation in Parliament to introduce measures which will allow those who held a valid Parallel Trade Permit on 31 December 2022, to apply for it be reinstated for a maximum of two years.
• This temporary measure will be in place while we address the limited competition and potential short-term gaps in the market that have arisen from the potential loss of parallel pesticide products.
• Guidance will be published on HSE’s website when the regulation has completed the Parliamentary process.

Standards:

• As with any policy on pesticides, maintaining protections for the environment and human health is paramount.
• Products imported through the parallel trade scheme must be identical to the GB reference product. We will continue to use both intelligence-led investigation and a broad range of controls to monitor, identify and act on any products that do not meet these standards.
• The import of treated seeds will be restricted to products authorised in one or more EU countries. This means that they must have passed through a strict regulatory regime with similar high standards to GB to be imported and used in this country. Any products for which the authorisation is withdrawn in the EU will no longer be legal to import and use in GB.