NFU Scotland calls on government to strengthen border controls amid ASF alerts

NFU Scotland calls on government to strengthen border controls amid ASF alerts

National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Scotland has welcomed the decision by UK government to increase the risk status of people bringing African Swine Fever (ASF) to the UK from medium to high, and calls on it to go further. 

Pigs working group chairman, Jamie Wyllie.

NFU Scotland has reiterated its call for UK government to introduce border control inspections on meat entering the country, following up on a letter sent to Defra on Friday 8th July.

The decision by the UK government to upgrade the risk status on ‘human mediated pathways’ follows the spread of ASF westwards across Europe to parts of Germany, with new cases reported several hundred kilometres from previously confirmed cases.

This has led vets to conclude that human movement with infected produce, subsequently fed to pigs or the transport of infected equipment is likely to be responsible.

NFU said that some supermarkets and food manufacturers are importing meat from ASF-free regions of Germany and other countries that have reported cases of the disease.  However, no checks are currently being undertaken by the UK government on Animal Health Certifications to ensure that this is being properly enforced.

Completely unacceptable

NFU Scotland’s pigs committee chair Jamie Wyllie said: “ASF, were it to enter the UK, is a highly contagious disease that would devastate the Scottish pig herd.”

He added that the UK government’s plans to postpone border checks on food entering the UK from Europe until the end of 2023, given the rising disease threat, “remain completely unacceptable”.

Wyllie explained: “We are importing meat from countries with ASF, and I struggle to understand why Defra does not aim to close this gaping hole in our country’s biosecurity. It must ensure checks are in place for products of animal origin entering the UK, in the same way that Europe requires checks on UK products entering the EU.

“Protecting our border from disease ingress and implementing proper inspection of meat being imported into our country is entirely in the UK government’s hands. ASF is not in the UK and the government should be doing everything within its powers to keep it out.” 

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