Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
4th Report - UK-EU trade: towards a resilient border strategy
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
HC 1279
Published 15 September 2025
Recommendations
13
Deferred
Set out strategic objectives for shared EU-UK digital border biosecurity systems, clarifying IPAFFS adoption.
Recommendation
In response to this Report, the Government should set out its strategic objectives for shared EU–UK digital systems in the context of border biosecurity. Specifically, it should clarify whether IPAFFS will be retired in favour of adopting TRACES NT, or …
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Government Response Summary
The government defers action on setting out strategic objectives, clarifying system adoption, outlining contingency plans, or publishing comparative analysis, as formal EU negotiations have not yet commenced.
17
Deferred
Provide analysis of Single Trade Window delays and outline renewed implementation timeline and costs.
Recommendation
Future border systems must prioritise ease of use, interoperability, and support for trade growth. In its response to this Report, the Department should provide an analysis of the reasons for the Single Trade Window’s delay. It should also outline the …
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Government Response Summary
The government states that the Single Trade Window Programme is not led by Defra, and therefore, this response is not the appropriate place to provide an analysis of delays or a future roadmap.
Conclusions (1)
12
Conclusion
Deferred
The Common Understanding with the EU presents a positive and welcome opportunity to bolster UK biosecurity and we praise the Government for its work in this regard. It remains unclear, however, how the Government sees the new arrangements working in practice. (Conclusion, Paragraph 21)
Government Response Summary
The government states that formal negotiations with the EU for the SPS Agreement have not yet commenced, making it impossible to provide confirmation or a cost-benefit analysis at this stage. They expect negotiations to start later in the autumn and will carefully consider options during negotiations.