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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of trends in the number of sanitary and phytosanitary transfers between the UK and EU since 2020 on the economy.

The Government is required to conduct an impact assessment when new or changing policies, strategies, services or projects are proposed that could have a significant impact on the economy, business, voluntary organisations, or the environment. Defra implemented changes to cross-border sanitary and phytosanitary processes in 2024 when it implemented its Border Target Operating Model (BTOM). The impact assessment was published https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2024/115/pdfs/ukia_20240115_en.pdf) and contains an estimated cost to business. As a major programme the BTOM will also be subject to formal evaluation, which assesses the value and impact of the work post delivery through a structured process of analysis. The evaluation process is expected to run over the next few years.

It should also be noted that the UK trade team of ONS also publish a variety of different statistics that quantify trade between the UK and EU over time (Published data - Office for National Statistics).