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Monday 30 December 2002Ban on non-EU Foodstuff Imports as of 1st January 2003EditorialAs of 1st January 2003 there will be a total ban throughout the EU on the importation of meat, meat products, milk and dairy products from outwith the EU. Previously, imports of one kilo were permitted. The FMD Inquires all requested this (1) as it is widely believed that both the 2001 FMD epidemic in the UK and the UK epidemic of classical swine fever in 2000 may well have been caused by illegal imports of meat. What is surprising, and which was unknown to the RSE FMD Inquiry for example, was the scale of the problem. According to a report by Andrew Arbuckle in the Courier (28 December 2002) the Heathrow based firm Ciel Logistics, which holds the contract to destroy illegally imported meats, estimates that an average long haul flight into the UK brings with it 500 kilos of illegal meat and meat products. Clive Lawrance, the company’s managing director, claims that the trade in illegal meat, much of it from Africa and the Far East, is similar to drug trafficking. He is quoted as saying that “with a street value of £1.2 billion a year, the criminals organising the trade have couriers paid £30 per tonne bringing the stuff in from high risk countries to a waiting demand”. It is reported that Mr Lawrence’s company recently seized 400 kilos from two passengers. It is also recognised that storage conditions on aircraft readily promote the incubation of diseases. The range of products being illegally imported is diverse and includes bats, bush rats, meat from primates, wild boar and antelope. Such have been Mr Lawrence’s concerns that he wrote to the Government in May 2000, almost nine months before the UK 2001 FMD epidemic started, warning of the potential risks. Virtually nothing happened. The attached extract from Hansard recording the debate on the Animal Health Bill at Westminster (Click here to view, 2) reveals the extraordianry ignorance professed by Elliot Morley (then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) on the subject of illegal imports by private persons. Reference is made in Hansard to the concern expressed to the Minister by the managing director of Ciel Logistics, Mr Clive Lawrence. While Ross Finnie of SEERAD claims that the Scottish Executive took the lead in achieving the pan EU ban, it has to be said that it has taken the EU a very long time to get around to creating this new legislation. What is not apparent throughout the UK is the means whereby this ban will be enforced. So far the steps taken to achieve this seem to be miniscule in spite of enormous pressure from the NFU and NFUS to improve matters. Is there now a second sniffer dog being trained for work at Heathrow? If surveillance is going to be equally lax at the innumerable points of entry into the EU, what chance of success? Once an illegal import is in the EU it can go where it likes unchecked according to EU rules. Because it will be so difficult to enforce this new law throughout Europe, the UK government argues that it is not worth trying in the UK. If only we could have control over our own destiny, rather than being endlessly and hopelessly dependent on EU rules and regulations coupled with lax enforcement by said Europeans.
References1. Foot-and-Mouth Disease Inquiry Reports. (Click here to view). 2. Commons Hansard Debates. 13 December 2001. Volume 376, Part 71. Animal Health Bill - Clause 1 - Annual Report on Animal Diseases. (Click here for full debate | Click here to view extract on Land-Care). |