He points to a similar group in Ireland that has a higher budget per capita, and will be active in all local authorities, rather than in just the 15 a year in the UK that the Defra group is targeting.

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In broader terms, Defra says the UK food and drink industry accounted for 11% of the country's energy consumption, excluding transport, in 2002.

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There was then a full year of committee hearings at the Council of Ministers, with officials from the different member states, including Defra in the UK, battling it out to reach a "common position".

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The application requires the endorsement of the relevant local stakeholders as well as the UK MAB Committee, the Minister for the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs or the Minister for environment in the devolved administration, before being sent by Defra to the UK Permanent Delegation to UNESCO in Paris.

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But the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) argues that these studies were mainly conducted in the laboratory and do not accurately reflect field conditions.

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In the UK the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) rejected a ban late last year saying the scientific evidence wasn't clear.

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Defra told BBC News that around 1.3 million passports have been issued in the UK with more than 64, 000 being issued in 2011.

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