About us

We work to safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the environment and the economy.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and also works on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Government.

The agency was launched on 1 October 2014. It merges the former Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) with parts of the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) responsible for plant and bee health to create a single agency responsible for animal, plant and bee health.

Who we are

Our headquarters is located in Weybridge, Surrey. We employ around 2,200 staff, based at various sites across the UK.

Our responsibilities

We’re responsible for:

  • identifying and controlling endemic and exotic diseases and pests in animals, plants and bees, and surveillance of new and emerging pests and diseases
  • scientific research in areas such as bacterial, viral, prion and parasitic diseases and vaccines, and food safety; and act as an international reference laboratory for many farm animal diseases
  • facilitating international trade in animals, products of animal origin, and plants
  • protecting endangered wildlife through licensing and registration
  • managing a programme of apiary (bee) inspections, diagnostics, research and development, and training and advice
  • regulating the safe disposal of animal by-products to reduce the risk of potentially dangerous substances entering the food chain

Our priorities

Our priorities for 2024 to 2025 are:

  • protecting the UK - by introducing the new Border Target Operating Model and protecting the UK from animal and plant-related threats to human health
  • promoting UK trade and economic growth – by issuing the export health certificates on time
  • we are an organisation that enables industry to innovate and thrive by delivering excellent services that are simple and easy to use for our customers and our people
  • our people – to recruit and achieve our target headcount, introducing a new learning and development technical capability hub and pathways
  • place - investing in the places we work and refurbishing key APHA sites

Find out more about APHA, read our corporate publications.

Additional services

The APHA offers additional services to the veterinary and scientific community, industry and the public, including:

  • the supply of commercial products and services through APHA Scientific
  • a disease alert service which helps keep people informed of the latest developments on animal disease
  • an online tool called APHA Vet Gateway which provides access to veterinary information and instructions for official veterinarians and private veterinary surgeons, and access to Sam for online TB test submissions.
  • an information resource for beekeepers to help keep their honey bees healthy and productive, and support the government’s bee health programme and Healthy Bees Plan.

Corporate information

Access our information

Jobs and contracts

Read about the types of information we routinely publish in our Publication scheme. Find out about our commitment to Welsh language scheme. Our Personal information charter explains how we treat your personal information. Read our policy on Social media use. Find out About our services.

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