The UK is being left in the “line of fire” of growing biosecurity threats as the government postpones key measures to stem the flow of illegal meat until after 2027, MPs have warned.
The Committee for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) accused ministers of dragging their feet as diseases such as African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease pose a potential risk to the country’s farms and food security.
Ministers have acknowledged growing concerns about illegal meat imports, but insist any significant reforms will have to wait until the end of EU trade negotiations and a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement comes into force.
Illegal imports of meat (often brought into the UK in personal baggage or unregulated shipments) risk disrupting agriculture and causing devastating animal diseases that can damage food supply chains.
The EFRA committee said that despite the two countries agreeing to step up cooperation and allow the UK to take “targeted action” to protect its borders, the government’s position still leaves the country at risk.
Work on the UK-EU Agricultural and Food Agreement to establish an SPS zone began in May, but MPs insist biosecurity cannot be put on hold until negotiations are finished.
In its response to the committee’s report published today (12 November), the government accepted some of the findings and promised a “more strategic approach”, including an inter-departmental group review of border goods. However, this did not lead to the formation of a dedicated task force as urged by members of the Diet.
The committee’s investigation has revealed clear weaknesses in the UK’s system for stopping growing volumes of illegal meat shipments.
Since the publication of the report, the Port of Dover Health Authority has revealed that more than 20 tonnes of illegally imported meat has been seized in the past month, underscoring the scale of the problem.
The Government agreed to improve collaboration between Defra and Dover Port Health Authority, but MPs criticized a worrying lack of urgency.
Chairman of the committee, Councilor Alistair Carmichael, warned that the SPS agreement does not regulate people who cut up animals and transport them in suitcases, citing what his committee had witnessed firsthand during a visit to Dover. “
The Government’s approach to threats to UK biosecurity is to leave the UK in the line of fire. Pathogens do not wait for policy. This is why the urgency of biosecurity is so important. ”
He added that the UK could not wait for negotiations to end before acting: “Our report finds that there is currently no effective deterrent to meat smuggling and the risks to animal and human health, food security, the agricultural sector and the economy are significant.”
MPs have warned that without urgent action, Britain’s farms and food supply could face the impact of the government’s delays.
