Written question asked by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) on Thursday, 12 January 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 January 2012. It was answered by Mike Penning (Conservative) on Monday, 23 January 2012 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Port Security Regulations 2009

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress she has made on implementing the Port Security Regulations 2009.

Answer: The Port Security Regulations 2009, which provides for the designation of port security authorities covered by Directive 2005/65/EC on enhancing port security, came into force in September 2009. A consequent pilot implementation exercise resulted in the port at Bristol being designated in March 2010.Subsequent to scrutiny by the European Commission of the reduced implementation programme that was notified in September 2010, the Department has been reviewing the port facilities in the UK and will set out any changes in implementation shortly. In the meantime, the Department has continued to implement the plan, challenging rigorously the impact to ensure that the regulatory burden is kept to a minimum. As a result, the designation order for the port of Dover will come into force at the end of January, and the remaining ports are now geared to the timing of an evaluation report that the European Commission is due to submit to the European Parliament in December 2013.In parallel, the pre-existent Port Security Committees and Police Portal Groups across the country have enabled the enhancement of port security ahead of formal implementation at the ports.

Secondary information