Biosecurity clampdown at Dover delayed pending SPS agreement

Government ministers have been criticised for a “lack of urgency” in relation to the inadequate border controls at Dover, with imports of illegal meat continuing to mount up, posing a threat to the UK’s biosecurity.

The comments come from the cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee, following publication of the government’s response to their earlier report in which the MPs described the UK’s border controls as “toothless” and “unacceptable”.

See also: Efra committee finds UK import checks inadequate

In its response, the government says it shares the committee’s concerns about illegal meat and dairy imports, but insists Defra is “working closely with the Home Office and the Food Standards Agency to tackle this issue”.

It points to restrictions the government has placed on personal imports since 2022 and the existence of pre-border checks as a means of risk mitigation.

However, the government also suggests that a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement it is working on with the EU, which is yet to be negotiated, should help protect both the UK and the EU from external biosecurity and public health risks.

As such, many of the government’s responses to key recommendations made by the Efra committee defer to those negotiations, suggesting action will be taken once the SPS agreement is in force.

Digital tool 

For example, the recommendation for Defra to establish a digital tool to help travellers understand what they can and can’t bring in with them – as exists in the US and Australia – is dismissed, as is the suggestion of a consultation on a permanent personal import policy.

Defra also says devising a strategy to discourage demand for illegally imported meat “would be of greater benefit once the post-SPS Agreement implementation environment is better understood”.

It has also rejected a recommendation to establish an illegal imports task force, or for a Defra-led plan for fining and prosecuting repeat offenders.

Dismay

Efra committee chairman Alistair Carmichael has expressed his dismay that so many potential measures to tackle illegal meat imports are being put off until an SPS deal is in place, which is likely to be 2027 at the earliest.

“The SPS agreement is not going to regulate those who chop up animals and transport them in suitcases – which we witnessed on the committee’s visit to the Port Health Authority in Dover,” he said.

“The government’s approach to threats to the UK’s biosecurity is to leave the UK sitting in the firing line. Pathogens don’t wait for policy – that’s why urgency in biosecurity matters.”

Latest figures from Dover Port Health Authority reveal that more than 20t of illegally imported meat was seized during September alone.

Last year, some 235t was intercepted from 2,600 seizures.