The UK government has taken steps to prevent imports of pork products from Spain entering the country, after two cases of African swine fever (ASF) were confirmed near Barcelona on Friday.
Following confirmation of the cases in two wild boars found dead on November 26, approximately 1 km apart, near the Autonomous University of Barcelona, new reports suggest more suspected cases have been discovered near Barcelona.
Citing ‘sources close to the Catalan agriculture ministry’, La Vanguardia newspaper reported that 12 more wild boar have shown signs they may also be infected and are undergoing tests, as the authorities step up surveillance in the area.
Inevitably, Spain is facing a wave of pork export suspensions. Spanish agriculture minister Luis Planas told a press conference that, of Spain’s 400 export certificates for pork products to 104 countries, a third are blocked, Reuters reports. “We are working to open them as quickly as possible. Our task is to keep international markets open,” he said, Reuters reports.
Spain is the world’s second biggest pork exporter, with the 2.7m tonnes sold outside the country in 2024, valued at over €8.8bn, according to Interporc. Even more concerningly, Catalonia is Spain’s most important pig producing region, accounting for a quarter of its pig herd and more than 40% of its pigs slaughtered.
Pig prices have already been in continuous decline in Spain, dropping by 30% since July, undermined by already difficult export markets, combined with ample supplies, with prices also falling across Europe. The concern is that if Spain faces significant export embargoes over a prolonged period, a surplus of unexportable pork could further suppress the market.
UK response
The UK has taken action, holding Spanish pork products at the border. In the first nine months of 2025, the UK imported 56,000t of pigmeat products from Spain, 11% up on 2024
“We take the threat of animal diseases extremely seriously and our commitment to maintaining the country’s biosecurity is unwavering,” Defra said in a statement.
“Following an outbreak of ASF in Spain, all fresh pork and other affected products from Spain will be held at Border Control Posts until further notice. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep all measures under review,” Defra said in a statement.
Defra was criticised earlier this year for its handling of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth in Germany, after it faced claims that products from Germany continued to enter the country after a ban was imposed.
The government said it has strict import controls in place to manage the risk of ASF, including new restrictions on personal pork imports introduced last year, and that it works closely with Port Health Authorities and Border Force ‘to ensure our robust border controls are enforced’.
Regionalisation
Spain will be seeking to negotiate an EU regionalisation deal as soon as possible to ensure its pork products can continue to be sold in the EU outside of the infected areas.
Industry analyst Mick Sloyan said the UK’s longer-term approach to Spanish imports will be interesting. “It is within the UK’s gift not to follow the EU on regionalisation, as we saw with FMD in Germany in February,” he said.
Spain has very recently reached an ASF regionalisation agreement ‘in principle’ with China. However, it has halted all pork shipments to China as a precaution until Beijing confirms it has implemented the protocol to restrict trade only from the affected province, Emilio Garcia, a senior Spanish agriculture ministry official, said, Reuters reports.
China has banned pork imports from Barcelona province. A separate Customs database entry showed China has also suspended pork imports from plants in the affected area belonging to 12 companies, the Reuters report adds.