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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will assess the potential impacts of the (a) Veterinary Medicines Internal Market Scheme and (b) Veterinary Medicines Health Situations Scheme on the agri-food supply chain in Northern Ireland during the first year of implementation.

We are confident in the two schemes being introduced by the Government and will continue to closely monitor the situation over the upcoming year and beyond. After extensive stakeholder engagement, our current assessment is that there will be minimal disruptions to veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland and the agri-food supply chain will continue as it is now.

The two schemes will take effect from 1 January, and we will monitor their effectiveness.