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 that the implementation of import checks on food products arriving from the European Union to Great Britain causes minimal loss of perishable products.

Fruit and vegetable imports have been classified as low-risk meaning they will not require any additional paperwork or checks. Where perishable products will require additional physical checks, the three-month period from 31 January 2024 will allow businesses time to familiarise themselves with the new requirements before full implementation on 30 April 2024. From 30 April, our approach to compliance and enforcement will be carefully calibrated to balance an expectation that businesses will do their best to comply, with an understanding that there will be a period of adjustment. We will continue to pursue an approach of supporting businesses towards full compliance via guidance and warnings and only escalating to enforcement where necessary.