The NPA has called on the Government to ensure there is a sufficient resource to facilitate and monitor the safe movement of breeding pigs in and out of the UK.
Responding to an EFRA Select Committee inquiry into moving animals across borders, the NPA has detailed the current concerns about border infrastructure and resourcing to manage disease prevention.
Currently there are no Border Control Posts on either side of the Channel to facilitate the movement of live animals, which has effectively shut down the export of breeding stock into Europe.
At the same time, the lack of import checks leaves the UK vulnerable to notifiable diseases at a time when resources to manage outbreaks are stretched and untested, NPA senior policy adviser Charlie Dewhirst said.
“The imbalance between import and export checks means the UK is unable to export valuable breeding pigs to Europe, but leaves us vulnerable to unchecked contaminated products arriving into this country,” he said.
“More must be done to minimise the risk of diseases being transported into the UK and to properly resource the preparation and management of any future outbreaks.”