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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will made an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the timeframe for the treatment of tapeworm before entry into the UK from 120 hours to 48 hours after the UK has left the EU.

Defra takes the risk of the notifiable disease caused by the tapeworm, Echinococcus multiocularis, very seriously, because of the profound impact this could have on human health if it were to establish within the UK. When the UK harmonised with EU pet travel rules in 2012, Defra undertook a risk assessment and as a result maintained the requirement for tapeworm treatment, but decided to increase the treatment window in consideration of the likely increased level of compliance of a longer window. Since January 2012, the UK has remained free of Echinococcus.

Defra has no plans to amend the tapeworm controls for pet animals entering the United Kingdom but continues to monitor the disease situation through routine surveillance measures and will undertake a further, formal risk assessment if the evidence indicates that one is warranted.