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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the National Audit Office’s report entitled Resilience to animal diseases, published on 4 June 2025, what assessment his Department has made of failing to implement the statutory digital equine ID system on the risk of (a) disease preparedness, (b) livestock traceability and (c) biosecurity measures at the border.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

Defra recognises the importance of a robust equine identification and traceability regime. The current paper-based system supports disease outbreak management, public health and biosecurity. Biosecurity is also protected by the UK’s imports requirements and imports health certificates for equines.

Defra has no current plans to implement statutory digital equine identification.