Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what measures are in place to prevent the illegal importation of bushmeat into the UK.

Border Force is responsible for enforcing anti-smuggling controls at points of entry into Great Britain to detect imports of illegal meat and other products of animal origin arriving from outside the European Union. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for these controls at points of entry into Northern Ireland.

Border Force seizes animal products that are imported outside the veterinary checks regime under the Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011 in England and equivalent regulations covering Scotland and Wales.

Border Force liaises with local authorities when meat is detected arriving from another country within the European Union.

Border Force operates intelligence led anti-smuggling controls on meat to detect illegal imports carried by arriving passengers, in freight and in postal traffic. Border Force works closely with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ensure its targeting is responsive to the latest animal disease risk assessments and changing threats at the border. Most recently Border Force has been involved in the cross government response to the current outbreak of Ebola and has adjusted its targeting of illegal meat to take account of this risk. Border Force also deploys a pool of detector dogs specifically trained to detect illegal meat.

Border Force treats all meat as potentially hazardous and infected and all seized meat is secured and incinerated strictly in accordance with animal health regulations.

Meat seized by Border Force will include bushmeat, for which there is no precise definition but is accepted to be the meat of wild animals hunted for food.

In addition to the enforcement activity carried out at the border, Border Force works closely with the National Crime Agency who can investigate and prosecute serious offenders. Border Force and Defra actively deter the illegal importation of Products of Animal Origin by communicating clearly what the legal requirements are for bringing meat into the UK and why the controls are needed.