Pet Travel Scheme

(asked on 13th February 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of the Pet Travel Scheme in 2019.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 24th February 2020

The Government takes the welfare of animals seriously, and that is why we have committed to cracking down on the abhorrent trade of puppy smuggling. We are currently considering the most effective approach to achieve this.

All pet animals entering Great Britain on approved routes under the EU Pet Travel Scheme undergo documentary and identity checks. The checks are performed by ferry, train or airline carriers or agents acting on their behalf. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) undertakes random checks of the pet animals travelling to ensure the carriers are performing checks to the required standard. The APHA also carries out quality assurance checks to ensure that the standard of performance of the carrier and approved checker is maintained.

The APHA continues to work collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel Scheme, disrupt illegal imports and seize non-compliant animals. The numbers of dogs quarantined after being illegally landed in Great Britain between 2016 and 2018 stands at 1,344. This includes those that were imported under the EU Pet Travel Scheme, as well as those imported commercially under the Balai Directive.

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