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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to introduce pre-notification requirements for foods of animal origin and certain foods of non-animal origin from 1 October 2021 and (b) physical checks for foods of animal origin and certain foods of non-animal origin at border control posts from 1 January 2022.

The requirement to pre-notify imports of Products of Animal Origin (POAO) for human consumption will be introduced on 1 January 2022. From 1 July 2022, these imports of POAO must also be accompanied by a certified Export Health Certificate and enter via a point of entry with a designated Border Control Post (BCP), where they will be subject to documentary, ID, and physical checks.

The requirement for pre-notification, phytosanitary certificates and risk-based import checks (documentary, identity and physical) have been in place for many years for all regulated plants and plant products from non-EU countries.

In January 2021, these requirements were extended to also include ‘high priority’ plants and plant products from the EU, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. ‘High priority’ plants and plant products are those which present the greatest potential biosecurity risk to GB and includes all plants for planting, potatoes and some seed.

The requirements will be further extended during 2022, to include all other regulated plants and plant products from the EU, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, such as fresh fruit, vegetables and cut flowers, starting with pre-notification on 1 January and followed by phytosanitary certificates and risk-based import checks on 1 July 2022.