Apply for funding to build border control posts for animal imports
How maritime ports and commercial operators in England can apply for funding from the Animal Biosecurity Infrastructure Fund to build border control posts for animal imports.
Applies to England
From July 2022, checks on animal imports from the EU will be carried out at border control posts (BCPs) as these become available.
Defra is providing up to £10 million in grants through the Animal Biosecurity Infrastructure Fund (ABIF) to increase the number of BCPs for animal imports at maritime ports in England.
The aim of the fund is to increase resilience, support trade continuity and promote high standards of animal welfare and biosecurity for animal imports.
The fund will cover eligible capital costs of building BCPs for animal imports from EU countries except the Republic of Ireland (ROI).
BCPs funded by the ABIF must:
- be designed for the volume and species of animals that currently enter through ports
- be ready to operate by 1 March 2023
- operate for a minimum of 10 years
Check you’re eligible to apply for funding
To be eligible to apply for funding from the ABIF you must be one of the following:
- a maritime port located in England that currently handles animal imports from the EU
- a commercial operator planning to develop a BCP for a maritime port in England that currently handles animal imports from the EU
You cannot apply for funding to build a BCP for a maritime port in:
- England, if it currently imports animals from ROI
- Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the UK Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man)
- Kent - work is already in progress to build BCPs at Dover and Ashford
Confirm you intend to apply
You must confirm with Defra that you intend to apply for funding (this is known as pre-qualifying).
You must register on BRAVO and submit the following information by 11:59pm on 16 February 2022:
- contact details for your business
- the location where you plan to build the BCP
- responses to due diligence questions
You must also sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Defra will send you an email within 3 working days to acknowledge your intention to apply.
If you pre-qualify you’ll be:
- invited to discuss your BCP design with officials from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
- sent an invitation to apply, including information about how Defra will evaluate your application
- sent a grant funding agreement template that sets out conditions of funding
Contact Defra to find out more about the fund and application process.
Check what costs the fund will cover
You can only apply for funding to cover the eligible capital costs of building a BCP for existing animal import volumes which enter through a port. You can apply to cover costs up to £10 million.
Capital costs that are eligible for funding include money spent on:
- construction and building materials
- buying land - the fund will only cover the costs of buying land if you provide evidence the BCP will be built and ready to operate from 1 March 2023
- modifying or extending existing BCPs to handle animal imports
- demolition
- installation and assembly
- staff costs or professional fees that are directly related to the construction of the BCP
You may also be able to apply to be reimbursed for eligible costs if you’ve already started building a BCP.
You cannot use the fund to cover:
- costs of building BCPs that handle other goods
- operational costs (including the costs of any government agency to operate the BCP)
- any other non-capital costs
- VAT costs which are recoverable - you’ll need to claim these costs separately
Discuss and agree your BCP design with APHA
If you pre-qualify, you’ll be invited to have four ‘design calls’ with officials from APHA to discuss your BCP design. You’ll be able to check if your proposed costs are eligible for funding during one of these calls.
You must agree your BCP design with APHA before you submit it with your application.
Design calls will be held on Microsoft Teams from 7 February 2022 to 16 March 2022 between 9am and 5pm.
BCP requirements
BCPs for animals must have:
- areas or rooms covered by a roof where animals will be unloaded
- inspection rooms or areas that have a supply of hot and cold running water and facilities for washing and drying hands
- access to toilets with facilities for washing and drying hands
- rooms that are fitted with walls, floors and ceilings that are easy to clean and disinfect, have adequate drainage and adequate natural or artificial light
- changing rooms with showering facilities
- a dedicated access lane or other arrangements to spare the animals from any unnecessary waiting before they reach the unloading area
- suitable space to isolate an animal for at least four hours if it does not pass inspection
Full requirements for building and managing a BCP are set out in the following pieces of legislation:
- Retained Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls
- Article 64(3)
- Article 21(2)(c) and Article 21(3)
Submit your funding application and BCP design
You must submit your application with your BCP design and project delivery plan by 23 March 2022.
You can only submit one application for each port.
Register on BRAVO to complete and submit the application form.
How Defra will evaluate your application
Defra will evaluate your application in 3 stages:
- Eligibility checks - your application must meet the full eligibility criteria set out in the invitation to apply.
- Technical review – you must show how your BCP will meet design, capacity, delivery and timescale requirements.
- Value for money – you must show that the costs of your proposed build are reasonable and necessary, and how the BCP will benefit local industries.
Your application will not progress if it does not meet:
- all eligibility checks at stage 1
- minimum criteria at stages 2 and 3
How Defra will allocate funding to successful applications
If the value of all applications which pass stages 1, 2 and 3 of evaluation is less than or equal to £10 million, they will be funded.
Defra may not give you the full amount of funding you request in your application if:
- you’ve included costs that are not eligible
- ways to reduce costs have been found during the evaluation process
- the total cost of successful applications is greater than £10 million
Defra will discuss any changes to the funding amount with you.
If you’re successful, you must sign a grant funding agreement before you’ll get funding.
If the fund is oversubscribed
If the total cost of successful applications is more than £10 million, Defra will fund an application, or combination of applications, based on their strategic importance and final scores from stages 2 and 3 of evaluation.
Defra will determine strategic importance by assessing BCP capacity, trading routes, ferry providers and the location of the port to see how your application, or your application combined with others:
- increases resilience
- improves trade continuity at a national level
Priority will be given to the applications with the:
- highest scores from stages 2 and 3 of evaluation
- greatest strategic importance
Following this assessment Defra will aim to fund a minimum of 80% of eligible costs of successful applications.
Defra may not allocate funding to applications with the highest scores from stages 2 and 3 of evaluation if other applications are assessed to be more strategically important.
Register on BRAVO to access forms and information
You must register on BRAVO to:
- submit information to pre-qualify
- access the invitation to apply, including application details and evaluation criteria
- access the application form
- submit questions about the fund and application process
Follow these steps to register your business on BRAVO:
- Select ‘Register now’.
- Accept the terms and conditions and select ‘Continue’.
- Enter details about you and your businesses.
- Make a note of your username and select ‘Save’.
You’ll get an email with your unique password.
If you need technical help, email help@bravosolution.co.uk or call 0800 069 8630.
Contact Defra for more information
You can contact Defra to ask questions about the fund and the application process from 3 February until 16 February.
You should submit all questions on BRAVO.
After 16 February, only applicants who have pre-qualified should contact Defra.
Officials will aim to reply to your email within 3 working days.
You should not include commercially sensitive or confidential information in your email.
Defra will publish questions and answers on BRAVO throughout the application process. All information that’s published will be anonymous.