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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he had with food import businesses before implementation of physical checks on (a) animal and (b) plant products entering from the EU.

Since the publication of the draft Border Target Operating Model (BTOM) on 5 April 2023, Defra and the UK Government have engaged with stakeholders from across industry, including many in the food supply chain, to inform design and promote readiness.

From publication of the draft, the Government undertook a six-week feedback period to capture input into the design of the BTOM. Defra engaged directly with large trade associations, logistics organisations, border operators and directly with businesses of all sizes to cover a wide range of audience insight, facilitating effective policy design.

After the publication of the final BTOM on 29 August 2023, Defra began an intensive programme of engagement and communications to deliver trader preparedness for both 31 January 2024 and 30 April 2024 milestones. This work included monthly sector focused webinars that are recorded and hosted on YouTube, digestible content leaflets on gov.uk to support traders in preparing, EU focused activity and translations to ensure whole supply chain readiness.