Leaving the European Union has given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to review how we make and shape Great Britain's regulatory framework for food and drink. The current 400-page rulebook for wine is overly complex and bureaucratic. It blocks innovation in the wine sector, including banning practices that could help us reduce carbon emissions, increases production costs and reduces consumer choice.
We want to make changes that ensure England and Wales continue to have a...More
Climate change is one of the greatest global challenges and action is urgently needed. In 2019 we became the first major economy to set a legally binding target to achieve net zero by 2050. In 2021 the UK government published its Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener , becoming the first major economy to set a legally binding target to achieve net zero by 2050.
The environmental impacts of biodegradable waste entering landfill are well known. In the absence of oxygen (below...More
The Animals and Animal Products Reg of 2015 (AAPR) is due a Post Implementation Review (PIR). This stage of the legislative lifecycle is mandatory after a set amount of time and provides an opportunity to review whether the legislation has met and continues to meet it's intended objectives, with opinions being sought from users and stakeholders.
The AAPR is a legislative tool which enables the sampling of products of animal origin (POAO) to test for residues of prohibited substances,...More
We are seeking your views on a small number of proposed changes to the Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Regulations for England and Wales.
The amendments are being proposed in a draft Statutory Instrument (SI) which is available to view as part of this consultation. The purpose of the SI is to clarify four regulations where volumes of PCBs are referred to. The first regulation relates to a requirement to remove pieces of equipment containing PCBs by the end of 2025, the second relates...More
A new Master Outline Planning Application is being prepared for the world-leading Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) site off Woodham Lane, New Haw. This represents a significant Government investment and will safeguard and enhance the UK’s main facility protecting animal health and welfare. Over 1,000 people work at APHA’s site in New Haw which underpins our economy with billions of pounds of trade, whilst protecting public health and the welfare of animals. The Science...More
This consultation sets out proposals to update the regulations for batch testing and batch releasing of imported veterinary medicines. The Veterinary Medicines Regulations (VMR) were amended after EU Exit to reflect the UK’s independence from the EU. We now wish to improve the regulations (as they apply in Great Britain) and seek your views on the proposals. Changes will then form part of the wider changes to the VMR (see the separate consultation here , which closed on 31 March...More
The Surrey Hills AONB boundary has not been reviewed since its original designation in 1958 and there have been repeated calls by local campaigners to reconsider the boundary. Some areas of countryside outside but adjacent to the AONB boundary are designated as Areas of Great Landscape Value (AGLV) by local authorities in recognition of their value at a county level. Following a series of landscape evaluation studies and a formal request by the Surrey Hills AONB Board, Natural England has now...More
Rydym yn ceisio eich barn ar ein cynlluniau i'w gwneud yn orfodol i bob ceidwad [1] dofednod [2] ac adar caeth eraill [3] gofrestru ei aderyn/adar gyda'r Asiantaeth Iechyd Anifeiliaid a Phlanhigion.
Ar hyn o bryd, mae'n orfodol i berson sy’n geidwad 50 neu ragor o ddofednod mewn unrhyw safle unigol gofrestru ei adar ar gofrestr dofednod Prydain Fawr drwy ddarparu gwybodaeth benodedig am yr adar. Mae'r wybodaeth ar y gofrestr dofednod yn bwysig i atal a rheoli brigiadau o achosion...More
We are seeking your views on our plans to make it compulsory for all poultry [1] and other captive bird [2] keepers [3] to register their bird(s) with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
It is currently mandatory for a person who is a keeper of 50 or more poultry at any single premises to register their birds on the Great Britain Poultry Register by providing specified information on the birds. The information on the poultry register is important in the prevention and control...More
Sandeels are integral to the marine ecosystem of the North Sea. They are highly sensitive to changing environmental conditions and the increased effects of climate change can negatively impact the health of the North Sea sandeel stocks. This pressure combined with the continued removal of sandeels through industrial fishing methods risks further declines of threatened and vulnerable species in the wider marine environment, which rely on sandeels as a food source. Defra are considering new...More
The MMO is consulting on potential new management measures for the sole fishery in Lyme Bay. This is in response to feedback from some fishers in Lyme Bay who have experienced competition for space and gear conflict. Some fishers also report a reduction in the amount and size of sole caught.
The total available quota for sole in Area 7.e has more than doubled since 2015. This allowed the MMO to increase the monthly catch limits for the non-sector, under-10m and over-10m fleets from...More
The UK is a party to the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are substances that persist in the environment, accumulate in living organisms and pose a risk to our health and the environment.
There is a process for parties to propose a substance for listing in the Convention if they have gathered evidence that suggests it may be a POP. The POPs Review Committee (POPRC), the technical scientific committee of the Stockholm Convention, then considers and...More
Protecting our natural environment is a government priority. Strengthening regulations that enable polluters to be held to account is one piece of the wider plan in reducing pollution to protect biodiversity and the ecology of our rivers and seas.
The government wants to strengthen the abilities of the Environment Agency (EA) to issue monetary penalties for environmental offences in England and to raise the cap for such penalties. This will involve:
increasing the...More
We are seeking your views on a number of proposed changes to the retained Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 as amended by the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2022) (“POPs Regulation”).
Some of the presented options and potential amendments to the POPs Regulation are related to recent additions or amendments to the UN’s Stockholm Convention on POPs which the...More
The Government recognises that there is more to do to protect people and the environment from the effects of air pollution, which is why we are taking significant and wide-ranging action to drive improvements to air quality. Effective action is needed at all levels and there is a key role for local government in identifying and targeting measures to improve air quality in their areas.
The Air Quality Strategy sets out the actions the government expects local authorities to...More
The Peak District National Park Authority is seeking views on proposals that will restrict public access to open access land at this site. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) gives a public right of access to land mapped as ‘open country’ (mountain, moor, heath and down) or registered common land. These areas are known as ‘open access land’. Much of the ‘coastal margin’ of the England Coast Path is also open access land under the same Act. Landowners have the...More
Natural England is seeking views on proposals that will restrict public access to open access land at this site.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) gives a public right of access to land mapped as ‘open country’ (mountain, moor, heath and down) or registered common land. These areas are known as ‘open access land’. Much of the ‘coastal margin’ of the England Coast Path is also open access land under the same Act.
Landowners have the right to apply to...More
Natural England is seeking views on proposals that will restrict public access to open access land at this site.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) gives a public right of access to land mapped as ‘open country’ (mountain, moor, heath and down) or registered common land. These areas are known as ‘open access land’. Much of the ‘coastal margin’ of the England Coast Path is also open access land under the same Act.
Landowners have the right to apply to...More
The Climate Change Act 2008 enables the Government to require infrastructure providers and bodies with functions ‘of a public nature’ to provide reports on how they manage climate risk, although this power has only been used to make mandatory directions in the first of the three previous rounds. Reports are expected to cover the following areas:
the current and future projected impacts of climate change on their organisation;
proposals for adapting to climate change; and,...More
Natural England is seeking views on proposals that will restrict public access to open access land at this site.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) gives a public right of access to land mapped as ‘open country’ (mountain, moor, heath and down) or registered common land. These areas are known as ‘open access land’. Much of the ‘coastal margin’ of the England Coast Path is also open access land under the same Act.
Landowners have the right to apply to...More
This consultation sets out proposals to amend and supplement the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR), as they apply in Great Britain. The VMR set out the controls on the marketing, manufacture, distribution, possession and administration of veterinary medicines in Great Britain. They are therefore a critical tool to help protect animal health, public health and the environment, by assuring the safety, quality and efficacy of medicines administered to animals.
We have...More
Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is seeking additional evidence and views on our draft ' Stage 3 Fishing Gear MPA Impacts Evidence' documents in relation to the impacts of fishing on designated features in marine protected areas (MPAs).
These documents collate and analyse the best available evidence on the impacts of fishing gears on MPA features and will inform site level assessments of the impact of fishing on MPAs as part of Stage 3 of the...More
Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is seeking views on a draft byelaw, and associated Impact Assessment, to manage fishing using bottom towed gear in specified areas in 13 marine protected areas (MPAs).
This byelaw is part of Stage 2 of the MMO's work to manage fishing in England’s offshore MPAs. Stage 2 focusses on the management of bottom towed gear over rock, and rocky and biogenic reef features. These features are some of the most sensitive to the impacts of bottom towed...More
The Bathing Water Regulations (S.I.2013/1675) ("the Regulations") define a bathing water as a surface water where "...the Secretary of State expects a large number of people to bathe, having regard in particular to past trends and any infrastructure or facilities provided, or other measures taken, to promote bathing at those waters." The objective of designating a beach or inland water as a bathing water is to protect bathers' health by monitoring for intestinal enterococci and E.coli in...More
The Bathing Water Regulations (S.I.2013/1675) ("the Regulations") define a bathing water as a surface water where "...the Secretary of State expects a large number of people to bathe, having regard in particular to past trends and any infrastructure or facilities provided, or other measures taken, to promote bathing at those waters." The objective of designating a beach or inland water as a bathing water is to protect bathers' health by monitoring for intestinal enterococci and E.coli in the...More
The UK Overseas Territories (OTs) are global biodiversity hotspots. Supporting every one of Earth’s major ecosystems, from rainforests to polar tundra, the rich diversity of habitats in the OTs support a host of endemic species – including some found nowhere else on earth.
With pressures on global biodiversity growing, we want to do more to safeguard the future of habitats and species in the OTs. In line with our commitment to halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity, we have...More
Natural England is seeking views on proposals that will restrict public access to open access land at this site.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) gives a public right of access to land mapped as ‘open country’ (mountain, moor, heath and down) or registered common land. These areas are known as ‘open access land’. Much of the ‘coastal margin’ of the England Coast Path is also open access land under the same Act.
Landowners have the right to apply to...More
Natural England is seeking views on proposals that will restrict public access to open access land at this site.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) gives a public right of access to land mapped as ‘open country’ (mountain, moor, heath and down) or registered common land. These areas are known as ‘open access land’. Much of the ‘coastal margin’ of the England Coast Path is also open access land under the same Act.
Landowners have the right to apply to...More
Natural England is seeking views on proposals that will restrict public access to open access land at this site.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act) gives a public right of access to land mapped as ‘open country’ (mountain, moor, heath and down) or registered common land. These areas are known as ‘open access land’. Much of the ‘coastal margin’ of the England Coast Path is also open access land under the same Act.
Landowners have the right to apply to...More