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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many veterinary surgeons hold the required qualifications to carry out export health certification by (a) type of qualification and (b) geographic area.

The number of Official Veterinarians (OVs) holding Official Control Qualifications (OCQs) for export certification are listed below. OCQs permit OVs to certify exports for specific commodities only but OVs may hold more than one OCQ. OVs may work across geographical boundaries. In addition, 1043 Food Competent Certifying Officers working in 153 different Local Authorities across Great Britain can certify some exports and therefore contribute towards certification capacity.

*This course is a prerequisite for the other exports courses and may be sufficient in cases where no further training is required (e.g. for the export of insects or live fish).