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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure imported meat does not adversely impact disease prevention in farming and animal disease prevention zones.

Meat import controls include measures to prevent spread of animal disease such as veterinary health certification and border control post checks.

On farm biosecurity plays a key role in protecting farms from exotic diseases and can mitigate the risk of spread of such diseases in the event of an outbreak. Defra is working closely with the devolved governments, the livestock industry and veterinary bodies to improve the UK’s response and raise awareness of the risks of introduction of exotic disease.