How effectively are border checks on commercial imports of animal and plant produce protecting biosecurity and facilitating trade? MPs to examine
The EFRA Committee continues its scrutiny of biosecurity at the border, holding an evidence session on Tuesday to investigate the effectiveness of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks on commercial imports of animal and plant produce at protecting biosecurity and facilitating trade.
MPs will hear from trade organisations representing logistics and the fresh produce, horticulture and meat sectors, and will investigate their sectors’ experience of the Government’s delivery of the Border Target Operating Model (BTOM), which has been undergoing a phased implementation.
The Committee will ask witnesses questions around the planning and delivery of SPS checks on EU goods, such as how prepared the fresh produce and logistics sectors are for the introduction of checks on fruit and vegetables in July, as well as the impact of the BTOM on biosecurity and the effectiveness of the operation of border systems in response to pest and disease outbreaks.
Meeting details
Members will also pose questions on the financial and supply chain implications of the BTOM, the operation of and compliance at border control posts, and how a UK-EU SPS agreement might relieve pressure on traders.
The session follows a Committee visit this week to the Sevington inland border control post, where MPs met with workers delivering controls at the border and toured facilities for SPS checks. Members also toured the decommissioned Bastion Point facility in Dover and visited anti-meat smuggling operations at the Port of Dover, conducted by Border Force and Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA).