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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the preparedness of the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) to replace the EU’s Trade Control and Expert System; and what discussions she has had with representatives of port health authorities on contingency planning for IPAFFS after the UK has left the EU.

The Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) was ready for use in advance of the last withdrawal date of 12 April. Since then, work on IPAFFS has continued to further develop and stabilise the system, improving the user experience and increasing functionalities for imports from countries outside the EU.

IPAFFS is currently available for businesses to register and begin familiarising themselves with the system. Businesses importing goods from outside the EU are able to use the system from Day 1. IPAFFS replicates the same functionality as the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) currently used by importers to notify authorities about imports of animal products, high-risk food and feed from non-EU countries.

For an interim period, businesses importing goods from the EU will follow a separate process whilst this functionality is built into IPAFFS.

As part of our programme’s nationwide business readiness activities we have been engaging with businesses, stakeholders and users of IPAFFS (including Port Health Authorities) to ensure they can familiarise themselves with the system ahead of 31 October.

The current IPAFFS contingency process is mostly unchanged from the one proposed for the previous departure date in March and follows a similar process to that used by TRACES if it were to stop working today. The National Clearance Hub has accepted the contingency as workable.