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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will publish (a) details of the biosecurity controls which the Government implements on high-risk imports, and (b) a list of the goods to which these controls apply.

Biosecurity remains a top priority for the Government, not only to protect consumers, but also to ensure that trading partners and industry have strong assurance of the UK’s standards of food safety. The Target Operating Model (TOM), to be published later this year, will set out how GB’s new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) regime for imports will operate in full.

We have already implemented some controls on the highest risk goods entering from countries other than the EU, for example plants for planting and live animals, which must have health certificates, and which are subject to inspection. In addition, all regulated SPS goods must be electronically pre-notified before arrival into GB. We still operate the same import health controls on non-EU goods entering GB that applied whilst we were in the EU, except for certain fruit like citrus and mangoes which are not produced in GB, and which present a negligible pest/disease risk. Full details of current import controls and the commodities to which they apply are published on GOV.UK.