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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the biggest risk is to the UK's food security in the (a) short, (b) medium and (c) long-term.

Food is one of the 13 Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Sectors in the UK. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have joint responsibility for food as CNI. Defra is responsible for security of supply, and the FSA for food safety and food crime. Food supply is a devolved issue. Defra produces a Sector Security and Resilience Plan (SSRP) which is updated annually and a summary is publicly available.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/786206/20190215_PublicSummaryOfSectorSecurityAndResiliencePlans2018.pdf

This document sets out the risk landscape through identifying the main risks to the sector as described in the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA). and how these are managed. The UK food sector has a highly effective and resilient food supply chain, owing to the size, geographic diversity and competitive nature of the industry. While there are no individually critical food assets, the main risks arise from recognised dependencies on other critical services such as fuel, energy, transport and data communications.