Select committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 5
Eighth Report - Seafood and meat exports to the EU
Published 29 Apr 2021
Paragraph 35
Addressed to Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Seafood and Meat Exports to the EU All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The Government took early steps to secure a significant increase in capacity to deal with the substantial increase in demand for certification officers, and there does not appear to have been significant shortages. However, we note that increased demands for Official Veterinarians (OVs) to certify EHCs have reduced the number available to undertake vital meat certification work in slaughterhouses. We also note that some businesses are experiencing difficulties securing the certification of EHCs. We are further concerned that the introduction of new EU EHCs and a recovery in export volumes may create challenges in the short-term. Given the important role certifying officers play in ensuring the export of seafood and meat to the EU, Defra should closely monitor the availability of certifying officers to ensure businesses can readily access them when they need them and at appropriate rates. Should Defra make a request to the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) to allow the temporary registration of OVs certifying EHCs, it should inform this Committee immediately.
From: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Eighth Report - Seafood and meat exports to the EU (HC 1189), paragraph 35, 29 April 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 July 2021 (deadline 29 June 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government states that it is "fully committed to supporting meat and seafood exports", but declines or has "no plans" on several recommendations, including a public certification service and extending the Movement Assistance Scheme to EU exports.
- On the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, it says the SPS chapter puts in place a framework to reduce SPS controls, and that frictionless trade "would require regulatory alignment with the EU", which it says would undermine regulatory autonomy.
- On certification, it says it has "no plans" to change the commercial Official Veterinarian market. Rather than publishing a comparative report, it is engaging with other countries. It has no current plans to ask the RCVS to admit vets to the temporary register for export health certification roles, but will "monitor the situation".
- On support schemes, it does "not consider support schemes for meat exporters are needed" on current market conditions, but says this "will be kept under regular review". It has "no plans to extend the MAS scheme" to exports to the EU or non-EU countries.
- It sets out phased import controls from October 2021, with physical checks at Border Control Posts from January 2022 and further checks from March 2022. Defra "will continue to report to the Committee" on progress.