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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what procedures are in place to ensure that invasive tree pests and diseases are not imported on trees for plantation; whether additional steps will be taken to improve biosecurity after the transition period; and what biosecurity standards to prevent the import of invasive tree pests and diseases will be applied to new free trade deals that the UK agrees with (a) the US and (b) other countries.

The UK has robust controls in place to protect against tree pest and disease threats. These include being the most prolific user of the EU Protected Zone system, comprehensive official inspections and surveillance, and a statutory notification scheme for certain tree species imported from the EU. The UK operates under WTO obligations and will apply the EU Plant Health Regulation (which came into force in December 2019) until the end of the Transition Period. This risk-based regime prohibits or controls the import of high risk plants and planting material from third countries. The UK frequently uses national measures to enhance these biosecurity provisions. Horizon scanning for any new and emerging threats associated with tree imports is carried out continuously and the results are considered monthly by all UK Plant Health Authorities, facilitated by the Defra chaired UK Plant Health Risk Group. The UK Plant Health Risk Register (UKPHRR) is the principal screening tool used for this purpose and all outputs are published. The UKPHRR now has over 1000 entries (300 of which can impact trees), informing decision making and prioritisation in relation to tree health threats. UK legislation is updated on a frequent basis to protect against new and revised threats.

After the Transition Period, the UK will continue with our risk based approach to maintain strong biosecurity protections. We will maintain our own autonomous sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regime to protect plant health and the environment, reflecting our existing high standards. The UK will introduce import controls on EU goods at the border and will continue to have controls on other third country goods. This will allow the UK to keep our borders safe and bio-secure.

The UK is proud of its world-leading biosecurity standards. We will not lower our standards nor put the UK’s biosecurity at risk as we negotiate new trade deals. We are already considering what additional measures it might now be appropriate to introduce against key threats such as Xylella fastidiosa and the Emerald ash borer. In planning for all scenarios, we have always had three key objectives: to maintain current high levels of UK plant health biosecurity; to maintain the flow of goods at the border; and to minimise impacts on businesses.