Animals: Imports
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that animals are declared correctly as rescued at UK borders; and how many animals have been (a) accepted and (b) rejected at the border in the last five years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Where the purpose of the movement of an animal is relating to the sale or any other form of transfer of ownership of the animal, including rescue animals, the commercial importation rules should be used.
Animals which are imported under the incorrect regime or without the correct documentation may be detained or returned to the country of dispatch.
The table below shows the number of all animals (including but not limited to dogs, cats, ferrets, bovines and equines) entering Great Britain from the EU that have been declared as rescue in the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS).
Year | Number of animals recorded as rescue in IPAFFS |
2021 | 61,884 |
2022 | 30,624 |
2023 | 30,077 |
2024 (Up to 31 October 2024) | 20,801 |
The Department does not hold data on the number of consignments or animals that have been rejected at the border.
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