NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson will highlight the pig sector’s growing concerns over failures in the UK’s border controls during a hearing in front of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee this morning.
Lizzie will appear alongside the British Poultry Council’s Richard Griffiths, AHDB’s lead veterinary science expert, Sarah Tomlinson and the Farming Community Network’s Judith McCann at 10am, as part of EFRA’s inquiry into the government’s preparedness for animal disease outbreaks. Appearing straight after them will be UK chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss and Jenny Stewart, the Animal Plant Health Agency’s chief executive officer.
The hearing comes hot on the heels of a dramatic session in February that exposed many of the major flaws in the UK’s border controls, including the revelation that goods continued to enter the UK for days after the Germany foot and mouth import ban came into force into January. MPs also heard from the Dover Port Health Authority’s Lucy Manzano that its vital work in seizing illegal meat imports will cease from this April, unless a new funding settlement is agreed with Defra.
During the hearing, Mrs Wilson will reiterate the importance of a settlement that allows this work to continue and will also highlight the industry’s concerns over the operation of the Border Target Operating Model for commercial import checks that continues to be targeted by illegal meat importers.
Speaking ahead of the hearing, Lizzie said: “At the moment, the risk of diseases such as African swine fever or foot-and-mouth reaching UK livestock, via meat imports, has never been higher. The consequences of an outbreak would be disastrous.
“We have heard repeated assurances that lessons have been learned from the past, and that the government are talking the threat of disease seriously.
“However, we do not believe that biosecurity is being taken seriously, given the levels of illegal meat that continue to arrive, the lack of acknowledgement of the BTOM failures from Defra, insufficient funding and intelligence sharing for agencies like DPHA, and the lack of a permanent personal imports policy, all of which paint a worrying picture.
“I look forward to raising these points with MPs and would like to thank EFRA for taking this issue so seriously.”
- You can view the hearing, which starts at 10am, HERE