The government has suspended the import of some meat and dairy imports from Hungary and Slovakia into Great Britain, following an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) confirmed Friday (7 March).
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) issued an urgent notice to traders on Friday announcing the suspension of imports of personal and commercial imports of affected goods.
These products include “cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and other non- domestic ruminants and porcines such as deer and their untreated products, such as fresh meat and dairy”.
Defra is holding a webinar on what the suspension means for traders today (10 March) at 12.30pm.
Currently, no cases of the disease have been reported in the UK.
Import suspension
In a detailed email to traders, Defra wrote that the following list of goods can no longer be imported:
- Live (including non-domestic) ungulates (ruminants and porcine animals, including wild game) and their germplasm
- Fresh meat (includes chilled and frozen) from ungulates
- Meat products from ungulates that have not been subject to specific treatment D1, D, C or B (including wild game)
- Milk, colostrum and their products, unless subjected to treatment as defined in Article 4 of Regulation 2010/605
- Animal by-products, unless treated to effectively mitigate the risk of FMD
Action
Defra says that it’s coordinating its response with devolved governments in England, Wales and Scotland, and working closely with counterparts in Hungary and Slovakia. It also advised that existing customs processes should prevent affected goods from breaching GB borders.
“Such goods must be pre-notified and wider border systems in place will prevent consignments entering GB.”
UK chief veterinary officer Dr Christine Middlemiss still urged caution among farmers:
“I would urge livestock keepers to exercise the upmost vigilance for signs of disease, follow scrupulous biosecurity and report any suspicion of disease immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.”
Traders can also learn more about what the suspension means for their business, via a webinar held today at 12.30pm.
Registration is still available here.
FMD
While Defra highlighted that FMD poses no threat to human life, it writes that its “a highly contagious viral disease” for affected animals, such as “cattle, sheep, pigs and other cloven-hoofed animals”.
The department’s primary concern is the potential economic impact if the disease were to spread to UK cattle:
“It causes very significant economic losses, due to production losses in the affected animals and due to the loss of access to foreign markets for animals, meat and milk for affected countries.”
Reuters reports that the outbreak, reported in the North-West city of Gyor, is the first of its kind in Hungary for over 50 years.
This follows a German FMD outbreak in January, which led to a similar GB suspension.
In 29 January, Defra updated its list of approved trading partners for ungulates, with some certificates reinstated.
