Review of Controls on the Import of Animal Products 2009-10

Thursday 22nd July 2010 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr James Paice)]

As required under the Animal Health Act 1981 (as amended by the Animal Health Act 2002) the Government will publish today a review of controls on the import of animal products for the financial year 2009-10. As the new Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, I welcome the opportunity to report on the efforts of DEFRA and other Government Departments and agencies during the past year to reduce the risk of disease entering the country via imports of animal products.

Imports of animal products from outside the European Union (EU) bring with them the risk of animal diseases which, as we know, could potentially introduce disease to our livestock and crops and to the environment. The risk can also be to public health—diseases such as highly pathogenic avian influenza type H5N1 can infect humans and are of serious public concern—and also be high economic cost as we know from the outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in 2001 which is estimated to have cost £3 billion relating to agriculture and the food chain.

Effective enforcement and raising public awareness are therefore key to ensuring that we meet our objective.

Controls are already in place to carry out veterinary checks on legally imported animal products from non-EU countries. UK Border Agency (UKBA) delivers a flexible, risk based enforcement strategy to prevent illegal imports including using information from DEFRA on the entry routes that pose the greatest threat of introducing animal disease.

DEFRA with UKBA and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have undertaken a focused publicity campaign as part of the overall communications strategy—inland within GB, at the border and also overseas. During this last year we have seen the re-launch of the personal food imports campaigns for general travellers in October 2009 and for the black and minority ethnic (BME) communities in November 2009.

The changes to the EU personal import rules in May 2009, in particular an increase to the personal concession amount allowed for fish, has enabled UKBA to refocus deployments to target the high risk routes for illegal meat and dairy products carried by incoming travellers more effectively. The number of seizures of illegal imports of animal products have therefore shown a 3% increase this year with seizures of meat and dairy products up by 14% and 45% respectively.

We can never have a zero risk but we monitor and assess the changing threats from around the world (such as the evolving FMD situation in South East Asia), and work with UKBA and other enforcement partners to ensure that our enforcement activity is targeted at the current risks.

Copies of the review will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses, on the DEFRA personal food imports website (http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/personal- import/index.htm), and sent to DEFRA customers for information giving them the opportunity to provide their feedback. Hard copies will also be available on request.