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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to review the Border Target Operating Model to introduce mandatory spot checks on all vehicles entering the UK, in the context of illegal meat smuggling.

The Border Target Operating Model aims to mitigate sanitary and phytosanitary risks, while enabling the flow of legitimate goods through our ports and airports. We will continue to operate a compliance first approach enabling importers and the public to move compliant goods, backed up by robust, intelligence-led, enforcement controls on illegal activity.

We take illegal meat smuggling very seriously, as it may pose threats to animal health, food safety and public health. That is why we are working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle this issue with the support of Border Force, Port Health Authorities and local authorities.