1

House of Commons

Notices of Amendments

given up to and including

Thursday 31 January 2019

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Amendments tabled since the last publication: 59

Consideration of Bill (Report Stage)

Agriculture Bill, As Amended

Note

This document includes all amendments tabled to date and includes any

withdrawn amendments at the end. The amendments have been arranged in the

order in which they relate to the Bill.

Kerry McCarthy

Martin Whitfield

Darren Jones

Caroline Lucas

Mary Creagh

Alex Sobel

Stella Creasy

Stephen Timms

Ian Murray

Tonia Antoniazzi

Matt Western

Ruth Cadbury

Dr Rupa Huq

Mr David Lammy

Catherine West

Angela Smith

Daniel Zeichner

Stephen Doughty

Kate Green

Debbie Abrahams

Owen Smith

Mrs Madeleine Moon

John Grogan

Stephen Twigg

James Frith

Dr Sarah Wollaston

Mr George Howarth

Mike Gapes

Tim Farron

NC1

To move the following Clause—

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Agriculture Bill, continued

“Ratification of international trade agreements

(1)    

An international trade agreement shall not be ratified unless it enables the United

Kingdom to require imports to—

(a)    

comply with the standards laid down by primary and subordinate

legislation in the United Kingdom regarding food safety, the

environment and animal welfare, or

(b)    

have been produced to standards that are no lower than the legislative

standards of the United Kingdom in protecting food safety, the

environment and animal welfare.

(2)    

In this section “international trade agreement” has the same meaning as in section

2(2) of the Trade Act 2018.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This new clause would prevent the Government from entering into trade agreements that allow

food imports that do not meet the UK’s environmental, animal welfare and food safety standards.

Neil Parish

Sir Hugo Swire

Fiona Bruce

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Scott Mann

NC2

To move the following Clause—

“Agriculture: definition and principles

(1)    

For the purposes of this Act, agriculture shall be taken to mean any activity which

entails the cultivation of land or plants or the breeding of animals to provide food,

fuel or other products to sustain life.

(2)    

Agriculture shall include—

(a)    

arable farming,

(b)    

animal husbandry,

(c)    

horticulture, and

(d)    

forestry.

(3)    

Agriculture shall be undertaken in accordance with the principles of—

(a)    

increasing production and productivity,

(b)    

achieving security of food supply, and

(c)    

providing consumers with food at reasonable prices with a fair price for

the farmer.

(4)    

Any person undertaking an agricultural activity shall, as far as possible, pay

regard to the development of new technology and practices in promoting the

principles under subsection (3).”

Member’s explanatory statement

This new clause would clearly define what agriculture is and would enshrine the concept of

agriculture in the legislation.

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Agriculture Bill, continued

Neil Parish

Sir Hugo Swire

Fiona Bruce

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Scott Mann

NC3

To move the following Clause—

“Level of food production: duty on Secretary of State

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that food production in

England does not fall to a level which puts at risk the supply of food to the

population.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This new clause would protect food security and ensure its affordability for the population. This

includes ensuring that enough home-grown food is produced if the UK experiences tensions with

trading partners.

Neil Parish

Kerry McCarthy

Dr Sarah Wollaston

Mrs Sheryll Murray

John Grogan

Angela Smith

David Simpson

Sir Hugo Swire

Julian Sturdy

Fiona Bruce

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Mr Philip Dunne

Scott Mann

Zac Goldsmith

Sir Desmond Swayne

NC4

To move the following Clause—

“Import of agricultural goods

(1)    

Agricultural goods may be imported into the UK only if the standards to which

those goods were produced were as high as, or higher than, standards which at the

time of import applied under UK law relating to—

(a)    

animal welfare,

(b)    

protection of the environment, and

(c)    

food safety.

(2)    

“Agricultural goods”, for the purposes of this section, means—

(a)    

any livestock within the meaning of section 1(4),

(b)    

any plants or seeds, within the meaning of section 15(6),

(c)    

any product derived from livestock, plants or seeds.”

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Agriculture Bill, continued

Deidre Brock

Alan Brown

NC5

To move the following Clause—

“Quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(1)    

Subsection (2) applies to any function of the Secretary of State under—

(a)    

Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the

Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural

products and foodstuffs (“the EU Regulation”),

(b)    

the delegated and implementing Regulations,

(c)    

any regulations made by the Secretary of State under the EU Regulation,

and

(d)    

any regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities

Act 1972 relating to the enforcement of the EU Regulation or the

delegated and implementing Regulations.

(2)    

The Secretary of State may exercise the function only with the consent of the

Scottish Ministers.

(3)    

In subsection (1), the “delegated and implementing Regulations” means—

(a)    

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 supplementing

the EU Regulation with regard to the establishment of Union symbols for

protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications and

traditional specialities guaranteed and with regard to certain rules on

sourcing, certain procedural rules and certain additional transitional

rules,

(b)    

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 665/2014 supplementing

the EU Regulation with regard to conditions of use of the quality term

“mountain product”, and

(c)    

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014 laying down

rules for the application of the EU Regulation.

(4)    

The references in subsection (1) to the EU Regulation and the delegated and

implementing Regulations are to those instruments—

(a)    

as they have effect in domestic law by virtue of the European Union

(Withdrawal) Act 2018, and

(b)    

as amended from time to time whether by virtue of that Act or

otherwise.”

Deidre Brock

Alan Brown

NC6

To move the following Clause—

“International trade agreements

(1)    

A Minister of the Crown may not lay a copy of an international trade agreement

before Parliament under section 20(1) of the Constitutional Reform and

Governance Act 2010 unless the agreement—

(a)    

includes an affirmation of the United Kingdom’s rights and obligations

under the SPS Agreement, and

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Agriculture Bill, continued

(b)    

prohibits the importation into the United Kingdom of agricultural and

food products in relation to which the relevant standards are lower than

the relevant standards in the United Kingdom.

(2)    

In subsection (1)—

“international trade agreement” means—

(a)    

an agreement that is or was notifiable under—

(i)    

paragraph 7(a) of Article XXIV of the General

Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, part of Annex 1A to the

WTO Agreement (as modified from time to time), or

(ii)    

paragraph 7(a) of Article V of the General Agreement on

Trade in Services, part of Annex 1B to the WTO

Agreement (as modified from time to time), or

(b)    

an international agreement that mainly relates to trade, other than

an agreement mentioned in sub-paragraph (i) or (ii);

“Minister of the Crown” has the same meaning as in the Ministers of the

Crown Act 1975;

“relevant standards” means standards relating to environmental protection,

plant health and animal welfare applying in connection with the

production of agricultural and food products;

“SPS Agreement” means the agreement on the Application of Sanitary and

Phytosanitarysp Measures, part of Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement (as

modified from time to time);

“WTO Agreement” means the agreement establishing the World Trade

Organisation signed at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994.”

Deidre Brock

Alan Brown

NC7

To move the following Clause—

“Agricultural payments to the Scottish Ministers

After exit day, the Secretary of State must make available to the Scottish

Ministers each year sums which are at least equivalent to the sums made available

to the Scottish Ministers in the year prior to exit day for the purpose of

expenditure under—

(a)    

the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, and

(b)    

the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development,

(both established under Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the

European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing,

management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy).”

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Agriculture Bill, continued

Caroline Lucas

Edward Miliband

Mary Creagh

Kerry McCarthy

Catherine West

NC8

To move the following Clause—

“Carbon emissions: net-zero and interim targets

(1)    

When considering the provision of financial assistance under sections 1(1) and

1(2) of this Act, the Secretary of State shall ensure that the likely impact of that

funding is compatible with the achievement of any emissions reduction target set

out in subsection (2) or (3).

(2)    

It is the duty of the Secretary of State to—

(a)    

set an emissions reduction target for the net UK carbon account for

agriculture and related land use for the year 2050 which is at least 100%

lower than the 1990 baseline, and

(b)    

ensure that the target is met.

(3)    

The Secretary of State must, within six months of this Bill receiving Royal

Assent, publish interim emissions reductions targets for agriculture and related

land use that align with budgetary periods as they relate to carbon budgets.

(4)    

It is the duty of the Secretary of State to ensure that the net UK carbon account

for agriculture and related land use for a budgetary period does not exceed any

interim emissions reduction target published under subsection (3).

(5)    

The Secretary of State must, within twelve months of this Bill receiving Royal

Assent, publish a statement of the policies to be delivered in order to meet the

interim emissions reduction targets published under subsection (3).

(6)    

In this section—

(a)    

“net UK carbon account” shall have the meaning given in section 27 of

the Climate Change Act 2008, and

(b)    

“budgetary periods” and “carbon budgets” shall have the meaning given

in section 4 of the Climate Change Act 2008.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This new clause would have the effect of setting a target of net-zero green-house gas emissions for

agriculture and related land use in the UK by 2050 at the latest. It would place a duty on the

Secretary of State to publish interim emissions reduction targets that align with the Climate

Change Act 2008 - and a duty to publish, within twelve months of the Act being passed, policy

proposals to ensure those targets are met.

Sir Hugo Swire

Neil Parish

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

NC9

To move the following Clause—

“Smallholdings estates

(1)    

Every smallholdings authority which immediately before the commencement of

Part 1 of this Act holds any land for the purposes of smallholdings shall review

the authority’s smallholdings estate and shall, before the end of the period of

eighteen months beginning with the commencement of Part 1 of this Act, submit

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Agriculture Bill, continued

to the Minister proposals with respect to the future management of that estate for

the purposes of providing—

(a)    

opportunities for persons to be farmers on their own account;

(b)    

education or experience in environmental land management practices;

(c)    

opportunities for increasing public access to the natural environment and

understanding of sustainable farming; and

(d)    

opportunities for innovation in sustainable land management practices.

(2)    

No land held by a smallholdings authority as a smallholding immediately before

commencement of Part 1 of this Act is to be conveyed, transferred, leased or

otherwise disposed of otherwise than—

(a)    

in connection with the purposes listed in subsection (1); and

(b)    

in accordance with proposals submitted under subsection (1).

(3)    

For the purposes of this section, “smallholdings authority” has the same meaning

as in section 38 of the Agriculture Act 1970.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This new clause would limit the disposal of smallholdings (“county farms”) by local authorities

and would require local authorities to review their holding and submit proposals for future

management to provide opportunities to extend access to farming, education, and innovation.

Caroline Lucas

Kerry McCarthy

NC10

To move the following Clause—

“Application of pesticides: limitation on use to protect human health

(1)    

The Secretary of State shall by regulations make provision for prohibiting the

application of any pesticide for the purpose of agriculture near—

(a)    

any building used for habitation,

(b)    

any building or open space used for work or recreation, or

(c)    

any public or private building where members of the public may be

present including, but not limited to, schools, nurseries, and hospitals.

(2)    

Regulations under this section may specify a minimum distance to be maintained

during the application of any pesticide between the place of application and any

place under subsection (1)(a) to (c).

(3)    

For the purposes of this section—

“agriculture” has the meaning given in section 15(6), and

“public building” includes any building used for the purposes of education.

(4)    

Regulations under this section are subject to affirmative resolution procedure.”

Member’s explanatory statement

This new clause would have the effect of protecting members of the public from hazardous health

impacts arising from the application of chemical pesticides near buildings and spaces used by the

public.