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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of checks on goods coming into the UK at Sevington on the protection of a) public health and b) animal health.

Border checks undertaken by competent authorities at the Sevington SPS Border Control Post are an important element of the system designed to manage biosecurity risks.

The Sevington facility is enabling the implementation of SPS controls at the border on EU goods under the Border Target Operating Model which are providing assurance that the underlying systems of controls are working as intended. These controls include import conditions, certification signed by veterinarian and plant certification authorities in exporting countries, risk assessments, border checks, and other intelligence led controls.