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1551719

registered interest
date	14/12/2022
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Dogs: Smuggling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussion with the Border Force on steps to tackle illegal puppy smuggling.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	110737
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra meets regularly with Border Force to discuss various operational issues including the issues around illegal puppy smuggling. Defra's operational department, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, work collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 18/01/2023 12:05:29 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron

1441005

registered interest
date	14/03/2022
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Dogs: Smuggling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of documentary and identity checks in respect of preventing the smuggling of puppies; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing visual checks to help ensure that the pet animal is the (a) same as that listed on the pet passport and (b) age stated.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	139386
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2022 answer text <p>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 Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the Crown Dependencies) under the Pet Travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers.</p><p> </p><p>To enter Great Britain pets must have been implanted with a microchip or have a legible tattoo imprinted prior to 3 July 2011. A pet’s identity is checked by ensuring that the microchip or tattoo details correspond to the details in the pet’s documentation, which includes the date of birth of the pet animal. Carriers can refer suspected non-compliances to the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), including cases where any dog appears underage. APHA staff are highly trained to deal with intercepted shipments.</p><p> </p><p>APHA works collaboratively with Border Force and other operational partners at ports, airports and inland, sharing intelligence to enforce the Pet Travel rules, disrupt illegal imports, safeguard the welfare of animals and seize non-compliant animals.</p><p> </p><p>The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June 2021 and completed committee on 18 November 2021. The Bill allows us to further protect the welfare of pets by introducing restrictions to crack down on the low welfare movements of pets into Great Britain and includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 22/03/2022 17:46:38 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron

1365836

registered interest
date	03/11/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Dogs: Smuggling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendation from the Dog's Trust report, Puppy smuggling: a tragedy ignored, that the focus on enforcement of the pet travel legislation should be moved from carriers to a qualified animal professional from a government agency and include a requirement for adequate out-of-hours and weekend cover at ports.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	69122
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/11/2021 answer text <p>Carriers work closely with operational colleagues at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Border Force and are committed to preventing illegal imports of pet animals. Authorised pet checkers are trained by APHA prior to being granted approval and receive annual audits of their checking and processing to ensure they uphold our requirements. APHA regularly reviews its border enforcement work against known travel trends of those that seek to illegally import puppies to the UK, to keep pace with this rapidly evolving criminal activity. Part of this work includes intelligence-led targeting of suspected smugglers, alongside partner agencies, including Border Force. Border Force operates a 24-hour service seven days per week and alerts APHA to suspected non-compliant dogs and puppies. Targeted intelligence-led work often takes place outside of normal working hours as needed. The Government is satisfied with the workings of these current arrangements.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 12/11/2021 16:31:17 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron

1354900

registered interest
date	13/09/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Dogs: Smuggling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Dogs Trust's report, Puppy Smuggling: the scandal continues, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Dogs Trust’s recommendation that checks at the border should include a visual check to ensure that the pet animal is the same as the animal listed on the pet passport, and is the age stated.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	48260
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2021 answer text <p>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 under the Pet Travel rules undergo 100% documentary and identity checks by authorised pet checkers.</p><p> </p><p>Authorised pet checkers are trained by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) prior to being granted approval and receive annual audits of their checking and processing to ensure they uphold our requirements. They also receive refresher training and are encouraged to liaise with their APHA contacts to identify non-compliance trends and additional training requirements.</p><p> </p><p>Pet checkers will refuse travel or share intelligence with the APHA who can intercept at the port/border if non-compliance is suspected.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/09/2021 13:20:29 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron

1354901

registered interest
date	13/09/2021
answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept id	13
answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
hansard heading	Dogs: Smuggling
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Dogs Trust's report, Puppy Smuggling: the scandal continues, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the Dogs Trust recommendation that the focus on enforcement of the pet travel legislation must be shifted from carriers to a qualified animal professional from a government agency and this should include a requirement for there to be sufficient out-of-hours and weekend cover at ports.
tabling member constituency	East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow
tabling member printed	Dr Lisa Cameron
uin	48261
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/09/2021 answer text <p>Carriers work closely with operational colleagues at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and Border Force and are committed to preventing illegal imports of pet animals. Authorised pet checkers are trained by the APHA prior to being granted approval and receive annual audits of their checking and processing to ensure they uphold our requirements. The APHA regularly reviews its border enforcement work against known travel trends of those that seek to illegally import puppies to the UK, to keep pace with this rapidly evolving criminal activity. Part of this work includes intelligence-led targeting of suspected smugglers, alongside partner agencies, including Border Force. Border Force operates a 24-hour service seven days per week and alerts the APHA to suspected non-compliant dogs and puppies. Targeted intelligence-led work often takes place outside of normal working hours as needed. The Government is satisfied with the workings of these current arrangements.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/09/2021 13:17:17 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
tabling member	4412 label Biography information for Dr Lisa Cameron