Tag: Kerry McCarthy

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that consumers are fully informed of the manner in which rabbit meat on sale in England was raised.

George Eustice

Food labelling rules are set at EU level and require that food information must be accurate and must not mislead. This Government has pressed for better information for consumers during negotiations relating to food labelling in Europe.

The European Commission has no plans to introduce further production method labelling for rabbit or any other farmed game. However, the Commission is due to produce a report on country of origin labelling for meats such as rabbit in the first half of this year.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-01-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many rabbit farms are operating in England.

George Eustice

Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) do not conduct routine welfare inspections of rabbit farms. There is no specific requirement to register rabbit farms with APHA.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will extend the ban on the use of unenriched battery cages for laying hens, as set out in Schedule 3 to the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 (S.I., 2007, No. 2078), to quail egg production.

George Eustice

UK legislation prohibiting unenriched cages for laying hens implements EU Directive 99/74/EC which specifically protects birds of the species Gallus Gallus. There are no such requirements for quail set in EU law and we have no plans to introduce a similar measure for this or other species of egg-laying birds. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is an offence to fail to provide for the welfare needs of animals, including quail raised for egg production.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on ratification of the EU-Central America Association Agreement; when he expects the UK to ratify the agreement; and when the two remaining pillars will be applied.

Mr Hugo Swire

We strongly support the EU-Central American Association Agreement, which was signed in 2012. The Agreement supports our policy objectives for Central America via three important pillars of political dialogue, development cooperation and trade. We believe that these are the right tools to support economic growth, democracy and political stability in Central America and the UK has supported the Agreement’s progress through its negotiation, signature and conclusion stages.

The trade pillar of the Association Agreement has been provisionally applied since 2013. The two remaining pillars will be applied as soon as the remaining EU Member States ratify. I have not had any recent discussions with my EU counterparts on this issue. However, I have recently discussed the Agreement with a number of Ambassadors to the UK from Central American countries and have had the occasion to discuss it while visiting the region – most recently on my visits to Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama last year. The preparatory work prior to ratification is ongoing. The next stage will be to seek parliamentary approval for a draft Order in Council that will specify the Association Agreement as an EU treaty. I expect a draft Order to be laid early in the next Parliament.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2015-02-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the role of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

Foreign and Commonwealth Office representatives regularly discuss MINURSO with their international counterparts, most recently in New York in January 2015. The UK supports the UN-led efforts to reach a lasting and mutually acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what international progress has been made towards establishing the Green Climate Fund ahead of the UN’s climate summit in Lima; and when she expects this fund to be ready for capitalisation.

Lynne Featherstone

The Green Climate Fund Board has agreed a list of eight operational policies needed to complete the design of the fund, with a view to taking decisions at the next Board meeting in May. The Board will also decide the next steps towards a contributions process, with a view to enabling pledges by the meeting in Lima.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-06-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he had on human rights during his recent visit to China.

Michael Fallon

My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills met civil society organisations during his visit and discussed a range of human rights issues, including the rule of law, labour and trade union rights.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to achieve agreement at the UN climate summit in September 2014 on the amount of finance that will be pledged to assist developing countries with their climate actions.

Mark Simmonds

The UK is actively engaged in discussions on preparations for the UN Secretary General’s climate summit in September 2014. We welcome this opportunity to further build international momentum to tackle climate change, and towards a new global, legally-binding climate agreement in 2015.

The UK is committed to the goal of jointly mobilising USD 100 billion of climate finance per year by 2020 from a range of public, private and alternative sources, and encourages all countries to work on strategies for scaling up climate finance. The UK is also actively supporting the development of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which we hope will be ready for initial resource mobilisation in 2014. The UK’s International Climate Fund (£3.87 billion of UK public funds provided by the Department for International Development, Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, in 2011-16) already supports a range of adaptation, low carbon development and innovative finance projects to assist developing countries with their climate actions.