Helen calls for crackdown on illegal meat imports amid foot and mouth threat

Helen Morgan has called for urgent action to tackle the growing threat of illegal meat imports at Dover, which pose a serious risk to UK biosecurity and the livelihoods of local farmers.

Addressing the House of Commons, Helen Morgan highlighted the severe challenges faced by farmers in Shropshire, particularly in the dairy and livestock sectors which are already enduring significant hardship.

Helen raised the alarming evidence presented by border authorities at Dover regarding illegal meat imports, and the potential dangers they bring, including the risk of devastating diseases such as foot and mouth.

When it last hit the country in 2001, foot and mouth disease saw 2,000 cases of the disease on farms across most of the British countryside, with over 6 million cows and sheep slaughtered. The UK has been free of FMD since 2007.

The question to the Minister came after a Government statement on foot and mouth disease, which was confirmed in the German state of Brandenburg last week, and led to a ban on the import of cattle, pigs and sheep from Germany.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, said, “In Shropshire, dairy and other livestock farmers have been having a torrid time recently and they will have read this news with a sense of dread. I'm also an officer on the All Party Group for Food Security and we recently heard some eye watering evidence from the border authorities at Dover about illegal meat imports and the threat that they pose to UK biosecurity.

“Can the Minister explain to the House what assessment he's made of the problems with that process and what he intends to do to ensure that diseases like foot and mouth don't arrive in the UK?”

Daniel Zeichner MP, Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said, “I thank the Honourable Lady for the concern that she expresses, and I repeat the points I made earlier about the border controls that we have in place. Of course we've been aware. I'm afraid this has been a long running issue, but we have much stronger border controls in place than we would have done in previous times and we are working hard with the port health authorities to make sure that we crack down on illegal imports of meat.”