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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the risk that jumbo flying squid imported from fisheries in the South Pacific and Argentine shortfin squid imported from the South West Atlantic may be linked to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and human rights abuses.

The Government is committed to tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and addressing associated human rights abuses in global seafood supply chains. The UK has robust regulations in place, including catch certification and traceability requirements, to prevent fish caught through IUU practices from entering the UK market.

The Government currently has no plans to increase specific scrutiny of squid imports from China, nor have we undertaken a species‑specific risk assessment of jumbo flying squid or Argentine shortfin squid. This reflects our assessment that existing controls apply equally across relevant imports and provide appropriate safeguards proportionate to the level of risk identified. Defra will keep its approach under review.

In relation to the South-West Atlantic, Defra continues to seek progress on establishing more coordinated management of high seas fishing activity through relevant international fora. The Government liaise closely with the Falklands Islands Government in relation to this.