The UK government is under pressure to stop illegal meat being smuggled in, amid warnings of a disease crisis for British farmers.

Fears of serious livestock diseases were heightened by the recent revelation that 600kg of illegal meat entered the UK from mainland Europe, and passed through England and Scotland, before being detected at Larne, near Belfast, by Northern Ireland's port authorities.

The meat was smuggled into Northern Ireland on the Stranraer to Larne ferry on January 16, but port staff seized it, because it was judged to be non-compliant with sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.

The incident illustrated how easily infective material could arrive on the island of Ireland from Continental Europe, where African swine fever (ASF) has been circulating since 2014, and where an apparently one-off case of foot-and-mouth (FMD) was found in Germany on January 10.

At Dover Port, where much of the cargo from Europe lands, Health Authority staff have seized around 170 tonnes of illegal meat since October 2022 (when ASF control measures started), despite only a small percentage of vehicles being checked, due to limited funding.

During just one week, commencing January 6 last, the Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) removed 10 tonnes of illegal meat from the food chain. And 25 tonnes of illegal meat was seized throughout the month of January, three times the amount in 2024.

As for the 600kg of illegal meat intercepted at Larne, the most likely explanation for it getting through checkpoints in England and Scotland is inadequate funding of border posts.

The UK government is under pressure to stop illegal meat being smuggled in, amid warnings of a disease crisis for British farmers. The amount of meat seized by all UK border force officials has doubled in a year, with a rise in the involvement of organised crime gangs suspected.

Meat is seized if it has not gone through checks to confirm it is disease-free, and conforms to UK health standards. It is understood that red meat makes up the majority of the UK border seizures.

At a recent Environment Food and Rural Affairs committee meeting in Westminster, Lucy Manzano, head of the DPHA, told British MPs that checks for illegal meat at the port might have to cease within weeks, if the DPHA does not receive adequate funding from the UK's Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Ms Manzano also revealed that German products continued to enter the UK unchecked for at least six days after Defra banned susceptible products from Germany.

Import regulations were changed on January 11, after a foot-and-mouth case was found in Germany, but the committee meeting in Westminster was told by Environmental Health Practitioner and regulatory consultant committee Helen Buckingham that the government’s Import Of Products, Animals, Food And Feed System (IPAFFS) system took another seven days to adjust.

According to the DPHA, its current level of funding allows only 20% of operational coverage to check for illegal meat entering the UK, and funding is due to cease at the end of March.

Illegal meat could bring infection to trigger a wave of livestock disease in the UK and bring it a step closer to Ireland. Ms Manzano of the DPHA said organised criminals were targeting the UK with pork products from places like Romania, where ASF is rife.

Defra estimates that ASF arriving for the first time ever in the UK could cost the economy up to £100m. As for foot-and-mouth, the 2001 outbreak cost the UK economy an estimated £8bn (equivalent to around £14.5bn today).

In Ireland, a case of foot-and-mouth would lead to the immediate loss of market access for Irish animals and animal products. The infected herd would be culled, with very strict movement controls and testing in a 3km protection zone. A national movement ban is very likely in the first days after a foot-and-mouth case.

The Department of Agriculture here has warned that infected meat or dairy products can spread FMD or ASF. Travellers from FMD-affected regions must be vigilant to avoid inadvertently bringing back contaminated meat or dairy products, clothing, footwear, vehicles, equipment, etc.

However, it was illegal meat cargoes that were highlighted as a disease threat, in the recent Environment Food and Rural Affairs committee meeting in London.

For example, it was revealed checks are not carried out at the Dover point of entry, vehicles are instead requested to present at Sevington, 22 miles inland, which allows scope for illegal behaviour. And at Sevington, many consignments self-declared as low risk are auto-cleared, to help avoid delays.

This leaves plenty of scope for import not only of livestock diseases but also of meat unfit for human consumption, not subject to safety standards, and possibly transported in unhygienic, unrefrigerated vehicles. With only a small percentage of vehicles checked, it is believed that a large quantity of illegal meat enters the UK, much of it imported by organised criminals.

Source - https://www.irishexaminer.com