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

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish action plans for those pathways identified as priorities in their Comprehensive analysis of pathways of unintentional introduction and spread of invasive alien species, published in May 2019.

The development of Pathway Action Plans (PAPs) requires detailed consideration, involving extensive engagement with stakeholders to understand the pathways, to identify the key risks and to understand how they can best be mitigated.

To date the Government has completed one PAP on zoos and aquaria and a further two will be completed later this year covering recreational boating, which is relevant to hull fouling, and angling, which is relevant to stowaways on fishing equipment. Work is beginning imminently on two other PAPs, for horticultural escapes and contaminants of horticultural plants, and Defra is expecting to complete all the PAPs by the end of 2022.