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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the (a) Secretary of State for International Trade, (b) Minister for the Cabinet Office and (c) Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential threat posed by African Swine Fever to the British agricultural sector.

The Animal Health and Plant Agency has carried out an assessment on the risk of entry of African swine fever (ASF) into Great Britain from the EU Member States and found the overall risk to be medium. HM Government takes the threat to the UK posed by animal diseases very seriously and regularly exercises its contingency plans to ensure they are fit for purpose, including through a UK-wide exercise that simulated an outbreak of ASF in 2021.

We introduced new controls on 1 September restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain to help safeguard Britain's pig population. Travellers from the EU are no longer allowed to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms into GB, unless they are produced to the EU's commercial standards. More information on the new controls can be found on GOV.UK. www.gov.uk/government/news/strict-new-controls-on-pork-and-pork-products-to-protect-britains-pig-sector-against-african-swine-fever.