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Birds: Licensing

Asked by Matt VickersConservativeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 30 January 2026UIN 107786

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the evidential basis is for the introduction of separate licensing regimes for (a) psittaciformes and (b) poultry and passerines.

Answered by Dame Angela Eagle

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The most recently published qualitative 2025 risk assessment (November 2025) sets out the overall risk of transmission of avian influenza associated with gatherings for each order of birds. The overall risk associated with psittaciformes is assessed as low, whereas the overall risk associated with poultry (galliformes) or passerines is assessed as medium.

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