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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

In line with our strategic pillars, our priorities for 2025 to 2026 are:

• protect – in line with UK legislation, complete a contingency plan exercise to test the UK’s readiness for a major disease outbreak  
• promote – work with our stakeholders to promote biosecurity and develop contingency plans  
• innovate – progress our transformation programme to improve our digital capability and customer experience  
• people – develop and deliver a capability and experience function, and a strategic workforce plan 
• place – continue to set the requirements for the national biosecurity centre programme, and improve our estates’ sustainability

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
• a disease alert service which helps keep people informed of the latest developments on animal disease
• an for beekeepers to help keep their honey bees healthy and productive, and support the government’s bee health programme and Healthy Bees Plan.