Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
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 merits of easing regulatory rules to allow more pets to fly in-cabin on flights.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All pets travelling into Great Britain are checked for compliance with the necessary health and documentary requirements prior to entry to safeguard our biosecurity. When travelling to Great Britain by air, pets currently travel as manifest cargo to facilitate these checks upon arrival. The only animals that are authorised to travel in the cabin of a commercial aircraft into Great Britian are Recognised Assistance Dogs.
We have no current plans to change the process by which pet cats, dogs and ferrets may enter Great Britain in aircraft.
When travelling with a pet abroad, pet owners and assistance dog users should seek guidance as to whether their pet is permitted to travel in the aircraft from the relevant competent authority and airline.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to allow pets to travel in and out of the UK in the main cabin of aircraft.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
All pets travelling into Great Britain are checked for compliance with the necessary health and documentary requirements prior to entry to safeguard our biosecurity. When travelling to Great Britain by air, pets travel as manifest cargo to facilitate these checks upon arrival. The only animals that are authorised to travel in the cabin of a commercial aircraft into Great Britian are Recognised Assistance Dogs.
We have no current plans to change the process by which pet cats, dogs and ferrets may enter Great Britain in aircraft.
When travelling with a pet abroad, pet owners and assistance dog users should seek guidance as to whether their pet is permitted to travel in the aircraft from the relevant competent authority and airline.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what changes are to be introduced from June in relation to the unrestricted transportation or accompaniment of domestic animals within the Common Travel Area; and what further requirements or registration procedures will be imposed from this summer.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Northern Ireland Pet Travel Scheme will launch on 4 June. This allows for the smooth and straightforward movement of pet dogs (including assistance dogs), cats and ferrets from Great Britain to Northern Ireland while ensuring that any pet movements into EU Member States, including Ireland, remain subject to relevant EU law requirements. The Scheme removes the need for costly health treatments and single use certificates. Instead, pet owners from Great Britain can register for a single, lifelong pet travel document, which confirms that the pet is microchipped and will not move into the European Union. Further information can be found here - Taking your pet dog, cat or ferret abroad: Travelling to Northern Ireland - GOV.UK.
Pet owners in Northern Ireland will not face any requirements beyond the need for their pet to be microchipped.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people will be employed at ports in Great Britain to work on monitoring, supervising or implementing the Northern Ireland pet travel scheme for pet animals moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Officials will be available at the GB ports to support and assist those travelling under the Northern Ireland Pet Travel Scheme. To simplify non-commercial pet movements (cats, dogs, including assistance dogs, and ferrets) from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the scheme will enable travel from Great Britain to Northern Ireland with a simple lifelong pet travel document.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ease restrictions set out under the Northern Ireland Protocol on (a) poultry exhibitors and (b) livestock owners from Northern Ireland who travel to and from shows and sales in Great Britain.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Movement Assistance Scheme is available to support with the costs of moving live animals. The Government engages regularly with Northern Ireland stakeholders and would welcome engagement with those transporting poultry and livestock between Northern Ireland and Great Britain to understand how we can best support the sector.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with transport providers on trends in the number of dogs, other than assistance dogs, permitted on public transport; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of dogs on public transport on (a) public safety and (b) carriage capacity.
Answered by Huw Merriman
The rules on the carriage of dogs on trains is set out in condition 24 of the National Rail Conditions of Travel. This states that up to 2 dogs can accompany the passenger free of charge. Train operating companies can allow passengers to take additional dogs onto the train but there may be a cost to the passenger for this.
This condition also stipulates that staff can ask that dogs be removed if they cause a nuisance or inconvenience to other passengers. On bus and coach, regulations state that animals are accepted onto bus services at the discretion of the driver. Bus and coach operators set their own conditions of carriage policies which may prohibit the carriage of dogs with the exception of trained assistance dogs.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on (a) cats and (b) dogs being transported to the UK with their owners in the passenger cabin of aircraft; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government takes the importation of pets seriously and we are committed to preserving our high standards of biosecurity and animal welfare.
All pets travelling into Great Britain (GB) are checked for compliance prior to entry. To facilitate this, Defra requires that all pets entering GB airports are transported safely and securely to the pet checking facility. Operations at airports are sensitive and complex, and other vital border controls need to be considered. In practice, this means that most pets currently travel to GB by air as 'manifest cargo'. This enables the pets to be transferred directly to the pet checking facility and means that a documentary record of the pet’s arrival is available to customs and other border control officials.
The safety and welfare of the animals is given prime importance before approval to transport the animals is granted. Carriers are required to ensure that air quality and quantity, temperature and pressure is maintained while the animals are on board. Food and water must also be provided, according to the journey duration. Stringent requirements are also in place for pet transport containers under the International Air Transport Association Live Animals Regulations, with space and ventilation concerns paramount.
Currently, the only animals that are authorised to travel in the cabin of a commercial aircraft into GB are Recognised Assistance Dogs.
We have no immediate plans to change the means by which pet cats and dogs may enter GB by air.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to improve the (a) accuracy and (b) transparency of data collected by the UK Government on the importation of pets.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The information that we provide is a true reflection of the information that we have access to.
The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals.
Every month carriers complete and submit spreadsheets detailing their throughput broken down by species, document type, non-compliance data and whether or not it is an assistance animal. This is the data recorded on the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s (APHA) system. Where necessary APHA ensures that carriers provide this information in a timely manner.
Asked by: Lord Willoughby de Broke (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the Written Answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 25 October regarding assistance animals travelling from the UK to the EU (HL2987), whether similarly stringent requirements are in place for pet movements from the EU to the UK.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Currently there are no changes to the pre-transition period pet travel requirements for entry into Great Britain (GB) from the EU or Northern Ireland. We continue to accept Pet Passports issued in the EU, Northern Ireland and Part 1 listed third countries and Pet Passports issued in GB prior to January 2021. We also accept Animal Health Certificates (AHC) issued in GB, and Great Britain Pet Health Certificates (which can be used when travelling from a Part 2 or ‘not listed’ country, or a ‘Part 1’ country that does not issue pet passports). Pets travelling from Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man do not need this documentation.
The pet health requirements remain in place to protect GB’s biosecurity from diseases such as rabies and the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. This means that all dogs, cats and ferrets entering GB from the EU must continue to be microchipped, have been vaccinated against rabies and for dogs, including assistance dogs, to have been treated against tapeworm (unless travelling from a tapeworm-free country).
We have extensive guidance on GOV.UK with detailed information on what pet owners must do to ensure a seamless journey for their pet into GB: https://www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain.
We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet checking regimes in the world for non-commercial pet travel movements. Every pet animal entering GB on approved routes under the pet travel rules undergoes documentary and identity checks. Any animals found to be non-compliant with the pet travel rules may be refused entry or detained until compliant.
The Government has a manifesto commitment to crack down on puppy smuggling. We are now making some significant changes to domestic law, with potential changes to our import requirements, through the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill. The Bill was introduced in Parliament on the 8 June and second reading took place on 25 October. The Bill will progress through Parliament when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Epping Forest)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cats entering the UK non-commercially were under six months of age in (a) 2019, (b) 2020 and (c) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
We operate one of the most rigorous and robust pet travel checking regimes in Europe. All non-commercial dogs, cats and ferrets entering Great Britain on approved routes (every route other than ROI and NI) under the Pet Travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers.
There are numerous approved routes into the UK by which pets can travel. These diverse routes are managed by independent pet checkers and by a variety of carriers including ferries, air travel and trains. Pet checkers and carriers independently record the number of how many cats, dogs, ferrets and assistance dogs have travelled and are required to record additional details of the animal where non-compliance is discovered. They may also independently record identifying details for their own records.
The data regarding the Pet Travel Rules is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. Raw data on the number of animals travelled via each authorised pet checker or carrier is provided to the Animal and Plant Health Agency and Border Force to enable effective enforcement action. This new system, with carrier captured data, records the number of pet animals entering the country more accurately than the previous legacy database (Pets database) which was initially deployed in 2006, but it is not a requirement to record the age of the animals travelling on those routes. Therefore, we cannot provide this data.