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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has considered temporarily restricting imports of queen bees from regions with a high risk of parasitic infestation.

Protecting our country from pests and diseases is a key priority and that is why we have stringent monitoring processes in place to detect pests and diseases. Imports of honey bees are only accepted from approved countries and are subject to rules relating to notification and health certification. Imports of honey bee queens must be inspected and certified as free from certain pests and diseases before they can be exported to the UK and they can only come from pest free areas. A risk-based approach applies to checks on imports, including some laboratory testing of packaging and accompanying worker bees, for evidence of bee pests and diseases. As well as the import controls, there is an extensive surveillance programme in place for invasive pests and the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s National Bee Unit provide training and guidance on pest recognition to all UK beekeepers.