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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the transit of seed potatoes from Scotland to Northern Ireland.

Defra continues to view lifting the EU prohibition on GB seed potatoes as a priority, and we continue to raise this issue in our engagements with EU SPS officials. I can confirm that the most recent meeting of the Trade Specialised Committee on SPS Measures was on 19 October and the issue regarding securing equivalence for seed potatoes was raised. HM Government challenged the TCA compliance of the EU’s prohibition and repeated our desire to find a solution to resume trade. Unfortunately, the Commission has yet to respond to a UK request for a risk assessment justifying the EU’s prohibition of GB seed potatoes. When challenged on a timeline for a response during the SC meeting, the Commission indicated that a draft response was under consideration. This will help inform our next steps. On the movement of seed potatoes from Great Britain to Northern Ireland specifically, HM Government has been clear there is no biosecurity justification for them to be prohibited as set out in the UKG Command Paper.