§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to other departments in support of the use of British farm products by their departments. [128257]
§ Alun MichaelThe EC Treaty and EC procurement directives do not permit discrimination on the basis of nationality. Defra is however working with others in the 285W public sector to integrate sustainable development considerations into their procurement of food and catering services. One of these considerations is that their specifications should not discriminate against or prevent local businesses from competing in the supply market.
§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has made to the Ministry of Defence on the use of British products in the supply chain. [128258]
§ Alun MichaelThe EC Treaty, and EC procurement directives do not permit discrimination on the basis of nationality. Defra is however working with the Ministry of Defence and other departments to take forward the public sector food procurement initiative. This is designed to help the public sector "to promote public procurement of food that supports delivery of the Government's Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy for England". The objective is intended to encourage public sector to procure food in a manner that promotes sustainable development and does not discriminate against local and UK suppliers. Information can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/index.htm