Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of China not reinstating the export licences of British pork producers on the UK economy.

The China export licences of five UK pork establishments were suspended following COVID-19 outbreaks at their sites in 2020 and 2021. The export licenses of three of these five establishments remain suspended.

High-quality UK agri-food and drink exports are an important part of our trading relationship with China, with over a quarter (28%) of our overall pork exports going to China in 2022, with a value of £95m. We recognise that these exports link to UK jobs, which is why Ministers have been consistently and proactively raising these suspensions as a priority with their Chinese counterparts to achieve the relisting of the pork establishments as soon as possible.