Corporate report

APHA: business impact target assessments, 2020 to 2021

Updated 15 December 2022

The business impact target (BIT) is a cross-government target for the reduction of regulation on business. Find out more about the BIT.

Under the BIT, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) assesses the financial impacts on business of qualifying regulatory provisions (QRPs). QRPs are changes to regulatory practices that are described in a written ministerial statement. We assess the impacts of these changes through BIT assessments.

We submit BIT assessments for QRPs to the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) for validation.

Non-qualifying regulatory provisions (NQRPs) are excluded from the BIT as set out in a written ministerial statement. We submit NQRP summaries to the RPC for validation.

Read about the scope of QRPs and NQRPs in the written ministerial statement.

1. Qualifying regulatory provisions

APHA has no QRPs for the reporting period December 2020 to November 2021.

2. Non-qualifying regulatory provisions

APHAs NQRP summary for the reporting period December 2020 to November 2021 is listed in the table below.

Excluded category	Summary of measures, including any impact data where available
Measures certified as being below de minimis (measures with an EANDCB below +/- £5 million)	As a follow up from last year, the fees charged for inspections under the Seed Potato classification scheme have remained the same as no fee review has been commissioned yet.
EU regulations, decisions and directives and other international obligations, including the implementation of the EU Withdrawal Bill and EU Withdrawal Agreement	Considerable work has been undertaken since leaving the EU in determining the operational requirements and locations for increasing the number of Border Control Posts to facilitate the continued import and export of animals, plants and derived goods. In June 2021, import fees were introduced for the inspection of high priority plant health goods entering Great Britain. Details on these fees can be found on the UK Plant Health Information Portal. Additionally, this year there was no change to Plant health fees linked to ‘Rest of the World’ imports.
Measures certified as concerning EU Withdrawal Bill operability measures	APHA also monitored the potential welfare impact on pig and poultry production from shortages in CO2 and staff.
Pro-competition	Following consideration of the exclusion category there are no measures for the reporting period that qualify for the exclusion.
Systemic financial risk	Following consideration of the exclusion category there are no measures for the reporting period that qualify for the exclusion.
Civil emergencies	The avian influenza outbreak had a total of 24 cases of both high and low pathogenic strains, in England, Scotland and Wales. APHA bee teams have responded to European and American Foulbrood outbreaks in honeybees and the destruction of one incursion of Asian hornet. Plant health dealt with the European Spruce bark beetle (Ips typographis) and first finding in the UK of Phytophthora pluvialis. Additional detail can be found at Alert List - UK Plant Health Information Portal. APHA Science provided resource and equipment to support the national COVID-19 testing response.
Fines and penalties	Egg Marketing and Salmonella Controls: 19 Penalty Notices totalling £12,410 and 13 warning letters issued. APHA referred 372 cases to the Rural Payment Agency (RPA) for consideration of applying cross compliance penalties for those farmers who failed to TB test on time; reporting overdue tests was suspended from 4 January 2021 to 1 July 2021 due to COVID-19. APHA referred 136 cases to the RPA for consideration of applying cross compliance penalties for those farmers who failed to meet the livestock welfare standards. Defra Investigation Service (DIS) have investigated 12 cases and secured 2 successful prosecutions this year.
Misuse of drugs	Following consideration of the exclusion category there are no measures for the reporting period that qualify for the exclusion.
Measures certified as relating to the safety of tenants, residents and occupants in response to the Grenfell tragedy	Following consideration of the exclusion category there are no measures for the reporting period that qualify for the exclusion.
Casework	APHA continues to register and inspect a range of premises and licence movements of animals, the export of animals, animal by-products, plants and plant products. Also control the import of animals, plants and bees and trade in bovine and porcine semen and embryos. APHA issues authorisations to hauliers for the transport of animals. APHA licence trade in endangered species and register certain birds kept in captivity. APHA undertakes surveillance to detect the presence or spread of animal, bee and plant diseases or pests and inspect farms and other holdings in response to reports of disease or conditions of animal welfare.
Education, communications and promotion	Regular guidance published for businesses and individuals on trade requirements following the end of the Brexit transition period. Provided information and guidance to poultry keepers on avian influenza via traditional, social media and direct messaging – over 2 million emails / texts. Communications have also highlighted the global impact of APHA’s world-leading science, including work on zoonotic diseases.
Activity related to policy development	Bovine TB policy change - herds in the ‘High Risk Area’ will change from annual to routine 6-monthly TB disease surveillance testing. Although this was adopted in July 2021, the first of the new six-monthly TB surveillance tests will not take place until January 2022 when the full impact of this policy change will occur. However, it was piloted in Staffordshire and Shropshire. Defra estimated the additional burden to affect approx.13,000 herds. APHA has assisted Defra with the development of the Ivory Act to prohibit the sale of ivory and the introduction of civil sanctions as an enforcement tool to deal with any offending. The Ivory Act is expected to come into force in 2022. ​
Changes to management of regulator	Following consideration of the exclusion category there are no measures for the reporting period that qualify for the exclusion.