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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of risk of avian flu from the importation of game bird eggs.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) carries out routine surveillance of disease risks around the world to help the Government anticipate future threats to animal health. APHA continues to closely monitor the global situation of avian influenza as part of this work.

Gamebird hatching egg imports to Great Britain (GB) must come from a disease-free territory within an approved country and be accompanied by appropriate animal health certification.

Hatching egg imports from non-EU countries must also enter GB through a Border Control Post, where controls are carried out to ensure that import conditions mitigating the risk of avian influenza have been met, while hatching egg imports from the EU may be subject to checks at destination based on an assessment of the biosecurity and public health risks.