Neil Hudson

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June. The Bill allows us to protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.

The Government launched a consultation on 21 August on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain, including our proposal to ban the commercial and non-commercial movement of puppies under the age of six months into Great Britain. We will take into account the views of the public and will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that our final measures are well considered and are guided by the latest evidence.

Defra has no immediate plans to change the import health requirements in relation to rabies for pets entering Great Britain. Recent quantitative risk assessments have concluded that the risk of a pet animal with rabies entering the UK under the pet travel rules is very low. Defra continues to monitor the disease situation carefully and our future policy will be guided by risk assessment.

Defra has no immediate plans to amend the tapeworm requirements for dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain. However, we remain aware of the concerns around tapeworm and our future policy will be guided by risk assessment.

There are no plans to introduce tapeworm treatment to imports of other small animals.

Tick surveillance has shown that tick distribution and abundance is changing throughout the UK for many reasons, including habitat and climate change. Small numbers of localised infestations with non-native tick species have been reported in recent years. For these reasons, Defra strongly encourages pet owners to treat their pets to safeguard their animals against ticks and tick-transmitted diseases when travelling abroad.

Defra has no immediate plans to amend the tick controls for dogs, cats or ferrets entering into Great Britain. However, we remain aware of the concerns around ticks and tick-borne disease, and future policy will be guided by risk assessment.

There are no plans to introduce tick treatment to imports of other small animals.

Prior to 2021 TRACES (Trade Control and Expert System) was used to record imports of animal/animal product movements into the UK. TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal movements into and throughout the EU.

Following the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, all imports are notified via IPAFFs with the relevant information required. The data collected previously under TRACES and now IPAFFS covers all commercially imported cats and dogs, including commercial kittens, rescue cats and kittens, research cats and unaccompanied pets. The number of animals imported into the Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) is recorded on these systems but not the age of animals. Therefore, unfortunately we are unable to provide this level of data.

We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. All non-commercial dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain on approved routes (every route other than ROI and NI) under the Pet Travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers.

There are numerous approved routes into the UK by which pets can travel. These diverse routes are managed by independent pet checkers and by a variety of carriers including ferries, air travel and trains. Pet checkers and carriers independently record the number of how many cats, dogs, ferrets and assistance dogs have travelled and are required to record additional details of the animal where non-compliance is discovered. They may also independently record identifying details for their own records.

The data regarding the Pet Travel Rules is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. Raw data on the number of animals travelled via each authorised pet checker or carrier is provided to the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Border Force to enable effective enforcement action. This new system, with carrier captured data, records the number of pet animals entering the country more accurately than the previous legacy database (Pets database) which was initially deployed in 2006, but it is not a requirement to record the age of the animals travelling on those routes. Therefore, we cannot provide this data.

The number of equines exported from the UK to France and the Republic of Ireland from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

When the TPA was renegotiated between the UK, the Republic of Ireland and France it was decided that there would be no requirement for certification and/or electronic moves to be recorded between the UK and the Republic of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and the UK. Therefore, there are no records held on the number of TPA equidae moves between the UK and the Republic of Ireland on any APHA database or TRACES.

There are no figures for 2021 as the Tripartite Agreement ended when the UK exited the EU on 31 December 2020.

This data was extracted from the TRACES. TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the APHA from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has completed a report in the Trade Control and Expert System and the Post Import Management System, and has not identified any matching consignments of these imports for 2020 or 2021.

When the TPA was renegotiated between the UK, the Republic of Ireland and France it was decided that there would be no requirement for certification and/or electronic moves to be recorded between the UK and the Republic of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and the UK. Therefore, there are no records held on the number of TPA equidae moves between the UK and the Republic of Ireland on any APHA database or TRACES.

This was also the case for all other moves of unregistered Equidae between to UK and Republic of Ireland. As part of the TPA renegotiations, it was determined that no paperwork was required for these moves either. Therefore APHA does not hold any records on these movements.

From 1 January 2021, these agreements ceased and export health certification is required for all Equidae moves between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

APHA have competed a report in the Trade Control and Expert System and the Post Import Management System, and have not identified any matching consignments of these imports for 2020 or 2021.

As dogs from Northern Ireland moving to Great Britain do not require any notification or health certification, we are not able to provide any data regarding this.

The number of dogs imported from the EU to the UK from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency has completed a report in the Trade Control and Expert System and has not identified any matching consignments of these imports for 2020.

The following information is for 2021:

There are no records of movements for 2020. The UK, Republic of Ireland and France all formed the Tripartite Agreement and there was no requirement for certification or electronic moves to be recorded. From 1 January 2021,this agreement ceased and export health certification is required for all Equidae moves between the UK and Republic of Ireland.

The number of live animals imported from the Republic of Ireland to the UK from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The number of equines exported from the UK to France from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The number of equines exported from the UK to the Republic of Ireland from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has completed a report in Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) and has not identified any matching consignments of these imports for 2020.

There are no records of movements for 2020. The UK, Republic of Ireland and France all formed the Tripartite Agreement and there was no requirement for certification and/or electronic moves to be recorded. From 1 January 2021, this agreement ceased and export health certification is required for all Equidae moves between the UK and Republic of Ireland.

This data was extracted from the TRACES. TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by APHA from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The number of live animals imported from the EU to the UK from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The number of live animals exported from the UK to the EU from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

There are no records of individual animal numbers travelling from the UK to the EU for 2021.

EHC Online does have a section for APHA to note the total number of animals exported, but as we have changed the requirement for certified copies to be returned, this information can only be captured for livestock and camelids.

Export Health Certification issued using the new EHC Online service contains a module for Certifying Officers (CO) to record when they have approved, rejected or cancelled a certificate. As a result, APHA no longer routinely require COs to return certified copies of EHC to APHA. APHA can no longer provide data on the exact number of live animals being exported from Great Britain to the EU.

The EHC Online service was enhanced in February 2021 to include an area for APHA to record the total number of animals exported on an EHC, but this data field will only be completed by APHA for exports of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and camelids where there remains a requirement for the return of a certified copy of the EHC. The return of certified copies of these EHCs remains due to legislative requirements for the UK to trace and report the export of animals form a holding where a disease outbreak has occurred post-export.

The number of equines imported from the EU to the UK from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The number of equines imported from France to the UK from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The number of dogs imported from the Republic of Ireland to the UK from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The number of equines exported from the UK to the EU from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The number of live animals imported from Northern Ireland to Great Britain from January 2020 to February 2021 are as follows:

This data was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES). TRACES is a European Commission system employed by EU member states to facilitate and record animal/animal product movements into and throughout the EU.

This response has been compiled by the Animal and Plant Health Agency from data provided by third parties, and as such is reliant on the providers for the accuracy of the information.

The data is correct according to APHA records. However, APHA is now receiving an increased number of Importer Notifications that do not specify country of origin of the consignment. This may account in the reduction of figures for January and February.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newton Abbot on 11 March 2021, PQ UIN 162616.