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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with local authorities in Northern Ireland and Scotland about the illegal trafficking of puppies from the Republic of Ireland; and what assessment she has made of the effect on such trafficking of the transfer in Scotland of search powers from Trading Standards to local port authorities.

The Government takes the illegal movement of dogs and puppies seriously and it is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations, delivery bodies, enforcement agencies and non-government organisations to tackle this issue.

Whilst there have been no recent Ministerial meetings on the illegal movement of dogs, Defra’s Chief Veterinary Officer has recently discussed the issue with his Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland counterparts. Additionally, there have been discussions on this issue between other Defra officials and officials within the Devolved Administrations.

Defra has not carried out an assessment of the impact of transferring Trading Standards search powers to local port authorities in Scotland as this is a devolved matter. However, we will continue to work closely with the Scottish Government and other interested parties to ensure that there is a full exchange of ideas and information on combating the illegal importation of puppies.