Written question asked by Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party) on Tuesday, 14 December 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 16 December 2021. It was answered by Jo Churchill (Conservative) on Wednesday, 22 December 2021 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Disinfectants: Testing

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the efficacy of testing protocols for animal disinfectant products.

Answer: The Defra Disinfectant test scheme, operated by the Animal Health and Plant Agency, utilises fully validated and United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredited tests to determine the likely efficacy of disinfectants in controlling animal disease pathogens when used in the UK environment. Some comparative testing has been done to assess European standard (EN) tests for veterinary disinfectant efficacy but EN tests currently do not use the target organism or temperatures representative of the UK environment. The work we have conducted to date has shown that the standard EN tests are easier to pass compared to the equivalent Defra disinfectant test. We continue to monitor standards used elsewhere in the world and remain confident the Defra scheme offers the UK government strong assurance that the products passing the test will be effective in the UK environment.

Secondary information