Committees

Biosecurity and animal welfare

Inquiry

Animal and plant diseases and pests have far-reaching impacts on the environment, agricultural and horticultural sectors, trade, human health, animal welfare, and the food that we eat.

The UK’s animal and plant biosecurity capability is in a period of significant change: the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s critical infrastructure – notably its Weybridge headquarters – is partway through a muti-billion pound transformation project, a new regime of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks on goods from the EU is being implemented, and the UK is adapting to changed access to surveillance, people and skills. In this context, the Government has made ambitious animal welfare commitments and is seeking an SPS or veterinary agreement with the EU.

This inquiry will provide consistent scrutiny of ongoing and emerging issues and opportunities relating to animal and plant health. The Committee will call for evidence on a regular basis and produce iterative and focused reports throughout the inquiry.

Topics for scrutiny may include, but are not limited to:

  • animal welfare;
  • biosecurity at the border;
  • implementation of the Border Target Operating Model;
  • One Health approach to biosecurity;
  • potential SPS agreement with the EU;
  • skills and workforce planning in relevant professions (such as the veterinary sector);
  • the impact of pests, diseases and biosecurity measures on farmers and the food supply chain;
  • the resourcing and work of the Animal and Plant Health Agency;
  • threats to UK forestry, including pests and diseases, and the risk of ecosystem collapse;
  • threat-specific scrutiny, such as in response to an outbreak or an ongoing priority such as tackling antimicrobial resistance;
  • UK Biological Security Strategy.

Read the ‘biosecurity at the border’ call for evidence here.

 

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The Committee is no longer accepting submissions on the UK-EU SPS Agreement, but we may open another call for evidence in the future. If you would like to write to the Committee about matters relating to Animal and Plant Health in the meantime, please email your submission to EFRACOM@parliament.uk. The Committee is unable to consider individual problems or specific complaints. 

Upcoming events

View all events

No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Tuesday 30 June 2026
10:00am Public
Oral evidence session 30 June 2026
Biosecurity and animal welfare; Work of the Department and its arm’s-length bodies - Oral evidence
10:00am
  • Abigail Seager (CEO at Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD))
  • Lea Reynolds (Head of Policy Development and Delivery at Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD))
  • Dr Suzanne Eckford (Head of International Office at Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD))
Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 16 December 2025
9:30am Private
10:00am Public
Oral evidence session 16 December 2025
The future of farming - Oral evidence
10:00am
  • Dame Angela Eagle MP (Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Emily Miles (Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Mike Rowe (Director for Farming and Countryside at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Food supply chain resilience and fairness - Oral evidence
10:45am
  • Dame Angela Eagle MP (Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Emily Miles (Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Mike Rowe (Director for Farming and Countryside at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
Biosecurity and animal welfare - Oral evidence
11:10am
  • Dame Angela Eagle MP (Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Emily Miles (Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Mike Rowe (Director for Farming and Countryside at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Fisheries and the marine environment - Oral evidence
11:30am
  • Dame Angela Eagle MP (Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Gareth Baynham-Hughes (Director of Marine and Fisheries at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Mike Dowell (Deputy Director for Marine and Fisheries at Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)
Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 9 December 2025
9:30am Private
10:00am Public
Biosecurity and animal welfare - Oral evidence 9 December 2025
10:00am
  • Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Dr Christine Middlemiss CB (Chief Veterinary Officer at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Professor Nicola Spence CBE (The UK Chief Plant Health Officer at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
  • Mark Thompson (Director, Northern Ireland, Biosecurity, and Trade Programme at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Room 6, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 21 October 2025
9:30am Private
10:00am Public
Biosecurity and animal welfare - Oral evidence 21 October 2025
10:00am
  • Katie Pettifer (Chief Executive at Food Standards Agency (FSA))
  • Geoff Ogle (Chief Executive at Food Standards Scotland (FSS))
Room 6, Palace of Westminster

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: efracom@parliament.uk
  • Address: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA