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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current risk level of African swine fever for the UK.

Managing the threat of African swine fever remains a key UK priority. Whilst we have never had an outbreak in the UK, we continue to prepare for the eventuality of one. Given the deteriorating epidemiological situation in Europe, Defra has commissioned an update to the 2018 risk assessment which looked at the risk of African swine fever entering Great Britain from the European Union via movement of humans, animals or animal products.

The risk assessment has concluded that the overall level of risk to Great Britain has remained the same as in 2018. However, the risk of entry of contaminated goods into Great Britain via personal luggage or couriers has become high. The department is looking at a range of mitigations, including targeted interventions to prevent high-risk pork from coming into Great Britain from Europe.