Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of the EU Pet Travel Regulations on levels of tourism to (a) the UK and (b) Northern Ireland.

The Government is engaging with stakeholders in the tourism sector to hear their priorities for the UK’s future relationship with the EU, and continues to assess issues raised by stakeholders.

The UK has been formally listed as a Part 2 third country for the purposes of the EU Pet Travel Regulations, which means that new rules now apply to pet movements from Great Britain to the EU and Northern Ireland. These rules are set out under the EU Pet Travel Regulations. Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, EU rules also apply to the non-commercial movements of pets into Northern Ireland from Great Britain. There have been no changes to the current pet travel health requirements for entry into Great Britain and we will continue to accept EU pet passports.

We will continue to press the European Commission in relation to securing Part 1 listed status, recognising that achieving this would alleviate some of the new requirements for pet owners and assistance dog users travelling to the EU and to Northern Ireland. We are clear that we meet all the animal health requirements for this, and we have one of the most rigorous pet checking regimes in Europe to protect our biosecurity.

The Government is engaging with the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) to explore means to streamline pet travel between Great Britain and Northern Ireland recognising the high standards of animal health that we share. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has also written to the European Vice-President seeking to ensure that an agreement can be made to address the barriers imposed on pet travel between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Ireland.