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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent Asian and citrus longhorn beetles arriving in the UK.

We have a dedicated programme of risk and horizon scanning, which continuously and proactively assesses emerging threats to plant health and the potential impact on the UK.

Asian longhorn beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) and citrus longhorn beetle (Anoplophora chinensis) are damaging pests of broadleaved trees including sycamore, maples, willow, birch and elm and are designated as priority, quarantine pests. They are not currently present in the UK. We have contingency plans in place and will take statutory action in the event of a finding.

Risk ratings and current mitigations for both pests are available to view on the UK Plant Health Risk Register. A common pathway for the spread of Asian longhorn beetle is wood packaging material such as pallets, and there are international standards in place for treating such material (International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15) to mitigate this risk. A common international pathway for the spread of citrus longhorn beetle is the movement of young trees for planting, particularly maples. The UK has general prohibitions in place on imports of all high-risk trees from outside of the EU, and further controls on other known hosts from countries where the pest is known to occur. All imports of trees must be pre-notified to government and are subject to an official inspection and surveillance programme.