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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the threat posed by bronze birch beetles to the UK's forests.

We have a dedicated programme of risk and horizon scanning, which continuously and proactively assesses new and emerging threats to plant health and their potential impact on the UK.

Bronze birch borer (Agrilus anxius) is a priority, regulated pest with a surveillance programme and contingency plan in place. A pest risk analysis for this pest was carried out in 2011 for the whole of the Europe and Mediterranean Plant Protection region and is attached to this answer, with UK experts in pest risk analysis and forestry being part of the working group. This is available to view on the EPPO website (https://gd.eppo.int/) and provided the basis for the inclusion of the pest on the UK Plant Health Risk Register.

Bronze birch borer is a specialist wood-boring beetle pest of birch trees. It is native to North America and absent from the UK. Specific import measures on birch material from third countries, including North America, are in place to mitigate against its entry into the UK and such materials are subject to pre-landing notification and inspection by the UK plant health authorities. Statutory action would be taken against any findings of this pest in the UK.