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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Dogs Trust report entitled Puppy smuggling - when will this cruel trade end?, whether he plans to shorten the tapeworm treatment period for dogs before entry to the UK from 120 hours to 48 hours after the UK leaves the EU.

Defra takes the risk of the notifiable disease caused by the tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis, very seriously because of the profound impact this could have on public health if it were to become established in the United Kingdom (UK).

Since harmonising our domestic pet travel rules with those of the EU in January 2012, we ensured that tapeworm controls were maintained, with a treatment period which was expected to increase traveller compliance, while still presenting a very low risk of disease incursion. Those measures have been sufficient to keep the UK free of Echinococcus multilocularis.

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