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 make an estimate of the number of physical checks that will take place under the Border Target Operating Model on consignments containing only high-risk goods entering the UK through the short straits in the week commencing 6 May 2024; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of all such eligible consignments this would represent.

Estimates of the operational capacity of Sevington have been based on a throughput model that seeks to model the flow of goods into the site based on the volumes, seasonal trends, timetabling of ferries and operational assumptions around the number of bays in use, and the duration of inspections including marshalling time and cleaning.

Our checks are intelligence-led and based on biosecurity risk. It would be inappropriate for us to set out operational details like the exact inspection details from 30 April. Traders should continue to follow the published guidance which sets out BTOM inspection rates.

DEFRA will gradually increase changes in controlled stages to balance biosecurity risk and maintain trade flows whilst minimising disruption at the border.

This will allow the level of goods inspected at the border to be operationally manageable over the introductory stages.