Sir Julian Lewis:  To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the location of the new border control post in Sevington on biosecurity risk.  [12881]

[Due for Answer on 8 February. Answered on 7 March.]

ANSWER

The Minister of State for Food, Farming and Fisheries (Mark Spencer): Until now, goods from the EU enter the UK without certification and checks, apart from those required for the highest-risk live animals and plants. Now that we have moved away from the EU’s rigid biosecurity surveillance and reporting systems, we are responsible for mitigating our own biosecurity risks, which otherwise could devastate UK industries and our ability to export food, as well as posing risks to the environment, public health and the wider economy: by taking a risk-based approach our controls will be focused on consignments proven to cause the most significant biosecurity risk.

Defra has worked closely with the relevant designating authority so we are confident that Sevington will have the necessary measures in place to appropriately mitigate biosecurity risks that relate to this facility being located away from the point of entry. The approach to physical checks at inland Border Control Points has already been successfully adopted for plants. Work is also underway with key stakeholders, including the Food Standards Agency, to ensure robust operational procedures for vehicles travelling from port of entry to Sevington. These measures will ensure that biosecurity and food safety are not compromised.

Where a consignment is called to Sevington inland border facility for a physical inspection, those goods will not be legally cleared for sale or use within the UK until they have attended and been cleared at the Border Control Post (BCP). Where the BCP has concerns, either due to non-attendance or evidence of non-compliance, there are existing provisions, including requiring return or destruction of the goods, or for the goods to be referred for inland controls by the local authority. These are part of the established processes for Border Control facilities like Sevington that sit outside the controlled zone of ports, including those at Liverpool Birkenhead, Newhaven, Portsmouth and Tyne. Other EU ports like Dublin also carry out checks at control posts outside of the port itself.

African Swine Fever safeguard checks will be conducted with Border Force at the point of entry. It has never been our intention that these would move to any inland border facility.