Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the timetable is for implementing dynamic alignment on export certification with the EU-UK SPS agreement; and what assessment they have made of whether current certification capacity can be sustained throughout that timetable.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is currently negotiating an SPS Agreement with the EU. These negotiations are at an advanced stage and expected to remove the requirement for Export Health Certificates. The Agreement will have implications for Official Veterinarians undertaking export certification, including the demand for Export Health Certificate (EHC) services. Defra are working with the veterinary profession and wider industry stakeholders to monitor this capability and ensure an effective and well-managed transition.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and veterinary sector representatives on export certification workforce planning for the transition period to dynamic alignment.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is currently negotiating an SPS Agreement with the EU. These negotiations are at an advanced stage and expected to remove the requirement for Export Health Certificates. The Agreement will have implications for Official Veterinarians undertaking export certification, including the demand for Export Health Certificate (EHC) services. Defra are working with the veterinary profession and wider industry stakeholders to monitor this capability and ensure an effective and well-managed transition.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of Official Veterinarians currently undertaking export certification on a full-time basis; and the risk of experienced Official Veterinarians leaving export certification roles before any reduction in certification requirements takes effect.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK is currently negotiating an SPS Agreement with the EU. These negotiations are at an advanced stage and expected to remove the requirement for Export Health Certificates. The Agreement will have implications for Official Veterinarians undertaking export certification, including the demand for Export Health Certificate (EHC) services. Defra are working with the veterinary profession and wider industry stakeholders to monitor this capability and ensure an effective and well-managed transition.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with the UK egg industry about implementing a trial of in-ovo sexing technology to prevent the culling of male chicks; and when they anticipate such a trial to take place.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A commercial in-ovo sexing system was trialed at a UK hatchery last year to help the egg industry understand the logistics of in-ovo sexing. This Government will engage with the egg industry and technology companies on this issue.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to enforce the commitment made in the Animal welfare strategy for England, published on 22 December 2025, to end the culling of male chicks in the egg industry.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the Animal Welfare Strategy, this Government would like to see an end to the practice of culling male chicks. The Government is monitoring the rapid progress currently being made with in-ovo sexing and has funded research into the use of dual breed chickens that remove the need to kill male chicks.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many badgers were culled in 2024 and 2025 in an effort to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in cattle; and of those badgers, how many were subsequently confirmed to have had tuberculosis.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of badgers culled under licence for bovine TB control purposes is published annually on GOV. UK. In 2024, the published total was 17,150.
Data on the numbers culled under licence in 2025 will be published in due course.
Badgers removed through intensive culling in the High Risk Area and Edge Area are not routinely submitted for M. bovis testing. No badgers were tested in these areas in 2024. Although some badgers were tested in 2025, the results are not yet known, as the study has not yet been completed.
Subject to capacity, badgers removed through culling operations in the Low Risk Area are sent to APHA laboratories for M. bovis testing. Not every badger removed through Low Risk Area operations may be tested for M. bovis.
Area name (year) | Number of badgers removed | Number of badgers tested | Number of positive badgers |
Area 54 – Lincolnshire (2024) | 54 | 46 | 3 |
Area 73 – Cumbria (2024) | 576 | 449 | 24 |
Area 73 – Cumbria (2025) | 175 | 173 | 1 |
Table 1: Number of badgers removed and tested for M. bovis in the Low Risk Area.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are (1) developing, or (2) supporting the development of, a vaccine to prevent tuberculosis in cattle; and if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is actively supporting the development of a CattleBCG vaccine to help protect cattle against bovine TB. Government-funded field trials of the CattleBCG vaccine and companion Detect Infected amongst Vaccinated Animals (DIVA) skin test have been running since 2021, with the final planned phase now underway and due to complete by 2027. Evidence from these trials is supporting the regulatory process needed for future deployment. This Government remains committed to progressing cattle vaccination as an important component of long-term bovine TB control.
The recently published recommended Bovine TB Control Strategy for England (https://tbhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-Recommended-Bovine-TB-Strategy.pdf) (see attached) sets a clear ambition to deploy a cattle vaccine and DIVA test by 2030. This Government will now carefully consider the recommendations in the proposed strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cattle were slaughtered because of suspected bovine tuberculosis in 2024 and 2025; and of those cattle, how many were subsequently confirmed to have had tuberculosis.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The number of cattle slaughtered for TB control purposes in Great Britain in 2024 and 2025 were as follows:
Year | England | Scotland | Wales | TOTAL |
2024 | 21,586 | 13,033 | 246 | 34,865 |
2025 | 20,494 | 11,257 | 290 | 32,041 |
The comparative format of the tuberculin skin test used in the UK is very specific (99.98% at the standard interpretation), so the probability of a false positive result is roughly 1 in 5,000 to 6,000 uninfected cattle tested. This means the department can be confident that the vast majority of skin test-positive cattle (i.e. test reactors) are truly infected with TB, irrespective of post-mortem and laboratory findings.
Bovine TB statistics are published on GOV.UK and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what timetable they have set for laying a statutory instrument to outline the activity regulations for the implementation of the Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023; what measurable outcomes have resulted from their engagement with stakeholders, including those in the tourism industry; and what progress has been made beyond stakeholder consultation towards implementation of that Act.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Animals (Low Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023 provides a framework for the introduction of future bans on the advertising and offering for sale, in England and Northern Ireland, of low-welfare animal activities taking place abroad.
As set out in the animal welfare strategy published in December 2025, Defra is continuing to explore both legislative and non-legislative options to stop the advertising of low-welfare animal activities abroad and will set out next steps in due course.
Defra officials encourage stakeholders to consider how best they can influence tourists to avoid unintentionally participating in low welfare animal activities.
Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of the rise in the amount of non-stun meat being exported; and what estimate have they made of exports of non-stun meat for each of the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter. However, this Government respects the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.
The Food Standards Agency carries out a periodic, one-week Slaughter Sector Survey in England and Wales. In the last five years, two surveys have been carried out in 2022 and 2024. Direct comparison between these surveys is difficult due to the high proportion of responses for the destination of meat in 2024 recorded as ‘unknown’, because that particular survey question is not mandatory.
For sheep, 32% of non-stun meat was recorded as exported in 2022, with 0% recorded as having an unknown destination. In 2024, 3% of non-stun meat from sheep was recorded as exported, with 36% recorded as having an unknown destination.
For meat chickens, the proportion of non-stun meat recorded as exported was 5% in 2022, compared to none recorded as exported in 2024. In both years, a further 1-2% of non-stun meat was recorded as having an unknown destination.
Copies of the 2022 and 2024 Survey Reports are attached. The 2026 Survey will be published later this year.