Agriculture Bill — House of Commons, 2020-05-13
Topic: Foreign Trade
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): Before I put the first Question, I confirm that the final determination is as follows. Remote Divisions will take place on new clause 2, new clause 7, amendment 39 and Third Reading. The Question, That Government amendments 20 to 22 be made, will not be subject to a remote Division New clause 2 International trade agreements: agricultural and food products "(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 that contains provisions relating to the importation of agricultural and food products into the UK unless they have first made a statement confirming that— (a) the agreement contains an affirmation of the United Kingdom’s rights and obligations under the World Trade Organisation Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement, and (b) any agricultural or food product imported into the UK under the agreement will have been produced or processed according to standards which are equivalent to, or which exceed, the relevant domestic standards and regulations in relation to— (i) animal health and welfare, (ii) plant health, and (iii) environmental protection (2) A statement under subsection (1) shall be laid before each House of Parliament (3) Before the first statement under subsection (1) may be made, the Secretary of State must by regulations specify— (a) the process by which the Secretary of State will determine— (i) that the standards to which any agricultural or food product imported into the UK under a trade agreement is produced or processed are equivalent to, or exceed, the relevant domestic standards and regulations in relation to animal health and welfare, plant health and environmental protection, and (ii) that the enforcement of standards in relation to any product under sub-paragraph (3)(a)(i) is at least as effective as the enforcement of the equivalent domestic standards and regulations in the UK; (b) the ‘relevant domestic standards and regulations’ for the purposes of subsections (1)(b) and (3)(a)(i) (4) The Secretary of State may make regulations amending any regulations made under subsection (3) (5) Regulations under subsection (3) or (4) shall be made under the affirmative procedure (6) In this section— ‘international trade agreement’ means— 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; ‘World Trade Organisation Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement’ means the agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary 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."—(Neil Parish.) Question put, That the clause be added to the Bill The House proceeded to a remote Division.