The Bill should maintain the flexibility to allow ministers to adapt to future science and intelligence, but Defra should include a ban on animals younger than six months, heavily pregnant animals, and animals which have been subject to poor welfare practices on the face of the Bill, rather than secondary legislation. It should include a clear definition of ‘heavily pregnant’. Putting these prohibitions in primary legislation would be a serious and sincere statement about the value the Govern...

The Bill should maintain the flexibility to allow ministers to adapt to future science and intelligence, but Defra should include a ban on animals younger than six months, heavily pregnant animals, and animals which have been subject to poor welfare practices on the face of the Bill, rather than secondary legislation. It should include a clear definition of ‘heavily pregnant’. Putting these prohibitions in primary legislation would be a serious and sincere statement about the value the Government attaches to animal welfare. Type: conclusion | Number: 3 | Paragraph: 13 | Response status: accepted Government response: The Government takes the issue of pet smuggling extremely seriously. Outside the EU, we can manage our own pet travel and commercial importation rules for Great Britain. In relation to Northern Ireland, our proposals set out in the Command Paper recognise that the UK’s high biosecurity standards sho