The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs have today announced a string of SPS border controls in response to Foot and Mouth Disease being found in Germany.
It was confirmed on Friday 10th January by the German Chief Veterinary Officer that Foot and Mouth Disease has been found in a herd of farmed water buffalo. As a result, Germany has now lost its Foot & Mouth Disease free status.
As a result of this discovery, Great Britain has suspended the import of the following commodities from Germany:
Live ungulates (ruminants and porcine animals, including wild game) and their germplasm
Fresh meat from ungulates
Meat products from ungulates that have been subject to specific treatment D1 or higher
Milk, colostrum and their products, unless subjected to treatment as defined in Art. 4 of Regulation 2010/605
Animal by-products, unless treated to effectively mitigate the risk of Foot & Mouth Disease
Additionally, DEFRA have warned that further safeguarding measures impacting the importation of animal by-products, hay and straw (unless treated to effectively mitigate the risk of the disease) will be published in due course.
What steps should you take:
DEFRA has asked all businesses to suspend imports of impacted products until further notice.
For those businesses who have impacted goods that are currently being held at the border, DEFRA have requested businesses speak to the Port Health Authorities are the port of entry for information on returning the goods to Germany.
Finally, where products have recently arrived in GB with an Export Health Certificate signed prior to the Foot & Mouth Disease outbreak being confirmed, DEFRA are urging these businesses not to place such products into the GB supply chain and market.
A Developing Situation:
The situation will continue to develop and, as suggested above, further restrictions are due to be brought into place. We would recommend any impacted business to continue to monitor the situation and keep up to date on any developments. One way this can be done is to sign-up for email notifications from DEFRA.
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