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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which body will be responsible for the (a) monitoring and (b) approval of imports into the UK to ensure compliance with UK standards on (a) animal welfare, (b) food safety and (c) environmental protection after the end of the transition period; and if he will make a statement.

The delivery of import controls for animals, plants and their products is carried out by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Port Health Authorities. This will continue to be the case after the Transition Period and we will deliver the same high level of protection as we do now.

After the Transition Period, the UK will maintain its own autonomous sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regime to protect the public, animal and plant life and health and the environment, reflecting its existing high standards. We will repatriate the functions of audit and inspections to ensure that trading partners, including those we secure trade deals with, continue to meet our import conditions. This will provide a standing, robust system that will work alongside border controls to maintain our high standards going forward.

I am pleased that the Government has agreed to the establishment of a Trade and Agriculture Commission, the details of which have now been published by the Department for International Trade. This will ensure that the UK's trade policy fully considers our agricultural industry and our commitment to maintain our high standards. We are on the side of UK farmers in trade negotiations and this Government will work hard to ensure any future trade deals are in their best interests and will prioritise both food production and our world-leading environmental targets.