Serious concerns over biosecurity as illegal pork products discovered at Dover

The authority, which is provided by Dover District Council, has expressed serious concerns about the mitigation of biosecurity risks at the port, including apprehension that a new port health facility has not yet opened.

Dover Port Health Authority wrote a letter to the then prime minister in May, raising a number of urgent issues. Among these were a ‘very significant’ increase in non-compliant imported food, evidence of deliberate food fraud and an increase in the risk of national food safety, and/or biosecurity incidents.

The impact of economic growth and the risk of ASF entering the UK were also raised. The authority sought the prompt mobilisation of the Dover Border Control Post (BCP), to protect biosecurity and disrupt food fraud and criminality.

Whilst the authority has received a reply to the letter, it said it awaits a detailed response to the issues raised and continues to seek ministerial approval so it can start operations at the facility.

Responding to the discovery of illegal pork products, the National Pig Association said keeping illegal pork products out must be a priority, and noted that the government introduced new restrictions on the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain in September.

Under the new restrictions it is now illegal to bring in pork or pork products weighing over 2kg, unless they are produced to the EU’s commercial standards. Defra says this measure will help limit possibly infected pig meat being brought into Great Britain through various means, such as in passengers’ luggage or in vehicles.

A spokesperson commented: “The aim of the restrictions is to stop illegal consignments such as this, which in this instance not only is clearly not safe for human consumption but also poses a significant risk to UK pigs given they are arriving from countries affected by ASF and with no control or oversight.”

ASF would not only severely compromise pig health and welfare, and potentially devastate businesses up and down the country, it would also have huge implications for our ability to export pigmeat, which is important for carcase balance.

The spokesperson added: “With disease prevalence in so many EU countries, several human-mediated ‘jumps’ across these countries and the fact that the virus can survive for a long time in infected meat (up to 1,000 days in frozen pork), keeping illegal imports out of the country is an absolute priority.”

Defra said in a statement: “We have strict biosecurity controls on the highest risk imports of animals, animal products, plants and plant products from the EU – and we also have powers to check and seize non-compliant products.

“EU countries affected by African swine fever cannot export pork or pork products from affected regions unless under very specific circumstances. On 1st September we introduced new controls restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain to help safeguard Britain’s pigs from the threat of African swine fever.”