Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many reindeer in how many consignments and from which countries have been imported into the UK in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are not able to provide any data regarding the number of imports from non-EU countries, as these are covered by a commodity code in TRACES which will not allow us to break the species down as far as reindeer for third country imports.
The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not hold data on how long reindeer survive after they are imported into the UK. Reindeer are protected by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. It is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering and for keepers to fail to ensure their needs are met to the extent required by good practice. Defra has a welfare Code for farmed deer which offers guidance on their health and welfare, some of which would also be applicable to reindeer.
See the table below:
Year | Country from | Count of Consignments | Sum of Quantities |
2011 | Denmark | 1 | 2 |
| Finland | 4 | 125 |
| Sweden | 2 | 43 |
2011 Total |
| 7 | 170 |
|
|
|
|
2012 | Finland | 3 | 59 |
2012 Total |
| 3 | 59 |
|
|
|
|
2013 | Finland | 6 | 97 |
| Norway | 1 | 12 |
| Sweden | 1 | 86 |
2013 Total |
| 8 | 195 |
|
|
|
|
2014 | Finland | 4 | 72 |
| Sweden | 7 | 148 |
2014 Total |
| 11 | 220 |
|
|
|
|
2015 | Finland | 3 | 62 |
| Norway | 1 | 16 |
| Sweden | 4 | 96 |
2015 Total |
| 8 | 174 |
|
|
|
|
Grand Total |
| 37 | 818 |