Border control ‘drive-bys’ pose threat to UK livestock

MPs have raised fresh concerns about gaps in inspections of imported meat and plant products entering the UK through the Port of Dover.

New figures obtained by the cross-party Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee show that in November 2025, 18% of flagged consignments were not taken to the Border Control Post at Sevington, 22 miles inland, despite them having been directed to attend for inspection by the Dover Port Health Authority.

The rate had risen from 8% in August 2025, though it remains lower than 2024 levels, when 40% of flagged consignments were recorded as “drive-bys” in November of that year.

See also: Scale of illegal meat imports shocks Efra committee

Efra chairman Alistair Carmichael described the situation as “deeply concerning”. 

“This new evidence from Defra paints a picture of a dysfunctional system,” he said.

“Unchecked meat and plant products carrying potentially devastating diseases are being let in through the front door.”

Heightened anxiety

The findings come amid heightened anxiety in the livestock and horticulture sectors, with outbreaks of African swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease reported in Europe during 2025, alongside plant health threats such as xylella.

Producers warn that insufficient border checks could leave UK farms exposed to costly disease incursions.

And while these drive-bys involve commercial food imports, concern is also mounting about the continued influx of illegal  meat coming in through Dover, with 34t seized in January alone, bringing the total to 391t since checks intensified in 2022.

Improved enforcement

Defending its record, Defra points out that lorries typically carry more than one consignment of food, so the figures do not necessarily equate to the number of lorries which fail to present for inspection.

The data for 2024, it says, was also highly provisional, as it was collected in the early stages of implementation of the new Border Operating Model – though it admits the 2025 figures are more robust. 

Defra also points out that, when a lorry fails to present at Sevington, Ashford Borough Council alerts the local authority at the intended destination “to ensure compliance”.

“Our national system sanitary and phytosanitary system is more than just controls at the border,” it adds, insisting that Defra continuously monitors disease outbreaks worldwide and imposes import restrictions where necessary.