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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers in the north of England reliant on cross-border stock movements following the extension of the bluetongue virus restricted zone.

I refer the honourable member to the answer given on 4 June 2025 to question UIN 57569. We continue to work closely with industry representatives to ensure that keepers are kept up to date with developments and that issues and concerns are addressed promptly.

In order to minimise the burdens on keepers whilst ensuring controls are proportionate to risk, from 1 July 2025 cattle may move to live from England to Scotland without a pre-movement test if vaccinated with a BTV-3 vaccine that prevents viraemia in that species and 21 days have elapsed since completing the full course of primary vaccination. Defra is working closely with vaccine manufacturers to understand supply availability.