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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on livestock exports to the EU.

It is in everyone’s interests to secure a good deal with the EU and that is what we are committed to. However, as any responsible government would, we are preparing for the possibility of no deal – and in all future scenarios we will be ensuring our high animal welfare standards are maintained.

We have been working on no deal livestock contingency planning, dealing with sector specific issues and preparing for all outcomes.

We have plans in place to ensure that the movement of animals and animal products is not disrupted. This includes a new import notification system, set to be ready by the end of March, and increased capacity amongst Official Veterinarians for Export Health Certificates to export foods of animal origin outside the EU.