Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Animal and Plant Health Agency is prepared to conduct physical checks on sanitary and phytosanitary goods at border control posts from 1 July 2022.

Construction work is currently underway at many commercial ports to build the necessary infrastructure and facilities to enable the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks to be carried out. The Government is also working to build further Border Control Post (BCP) capacity across the country. Its Port Infrastructure Fund awarded around £200 million to improve infrastructure at 41 ports, including helping to establish BCPs at key ports around the UK. In addition, the Government is constructing new inland BCPs in Kent, where work is progressing at pace towards the delivery of Sevington and Dover SPS BCPs for operation from 1 July.

Sevington is on course for both completion of works and designation, in readiness to deliver SPS checks from 1 July on plants/plant products, wood/wood products and some live species arriving through the Short Straits.

At Dover, Defra acquired the lease on an existing distribution warehouse at the White Cliffs Business Park, and work is underway to convert this into Dover SPS BCP. Works are on track for the facility to be designated and operational from 1 July 2022 for SPS checks on plants as part of a mixed load with products of animal origin.