The EFRA Committee has highlighted the significant number of consignments of ‘flagged’ meat and plant product imports that are passing through the Port of Dover without being checked at the Border Control Post for dangerous diseases.
However, Ashford Port Health Authority has responded by accusing the committee of using ‘misleading’ figures to make its case.
A document highlighting the figures, provided by Defra, shows the percentage of consignments of meat and plant products that were taken, after being flagged, from Dover to the sole Border Control Post in Sevington, located 22 miles from the Port.
Comparisons show that in November 2025, 18% of consignments of animal-origin such as meat or dairy were not taken to Sevington, despite being directed to it by the digital systems once they entered Dover, and, therefore, were unchecked by BCP officials. This was up from 8% in August 2025.
Defra refers to these non-attendance incidents as ‘drive-bys’, the committee said, adding that it was not possible to provide a more comprehensive overview of consignment checks per month since Sevington began operating due to gaps in data.
The data is collected by Ashford Port Health Authority which operates Sevington, and Defra has provided this data for just three sample months, November 2024 and August and November 2025.
‘Disappointed’
However, Anthony Baldock, corporate director of health & wellbeing at Ashford Port Health Authority said the authority was ‘disappointed that EFRA chose to issue a statement that presented just a portion of the facts’.
“Despite numerous problems including IPAFFS giving incorrect information to importers Ashford Borough Council and our partners including importers and their agents have achieved huge success made amazing progress and continue to strive for improvements.
“We are proud of our Port Health Team who have carried out substantial inspections of consignments over recent years and been integral to safeguarding against serious diseases such as foot and mouth disease (FMD) and African Swine Fever (ASF). Our swift actions in this regard have been widely recognised.”
He said the figures EFRA chose to release were ‘somewhat misleading’ as they reference only one element of the multiple lines of defence within the UK’s import controls regime across Border Control Posts.
“Further action can also be taken by Defra outside of these processes. It is for this very reason that a multi-agency approach is taken. It is important to note even where loads may not have arrived further action by way of the local authority is always taken to control any SPS risks,” he said.
Widespread concern
The EFRA Committee pointed out that there are widespread concerns amongst the farming and horticultural sectors that limited biosecurity checks at Dover may pose ‘severe risks to UK livestock and plants’, with multiple outbreaks of ASF and FMD in Europe recorded in Europe in 2025 and early 2026, as well as recent crop and plant disease outbreaks such as those caused by the Xylella bacteria.
This comes amid growing evidence that, due to a reputation of inadequate controls at the Port of Dover, criminal gangs are bringing products into Britain that would not legally be sold on the continent. The Dover Port Health Authority recently revealed that it had made record seizures of illegal meat in January.
In September, the Committee published a report highlighting how the Sevington facility was inadequate because it relied on drivers acting in good faith by taking their consignments there for checks, with very little risk of enforcement if they failed to do so. It has become clear that many flout this requirement and continue driving to their delivery destination, and there remains the opportunity to unload consignments prior to presenting at Sevington itself, the commitee said.
EFRA Committee Chair Alistair Carmichael MP said: “This new evidence from Defra paints a picture of a dysfunctional system. Unchecked meat and plant products carrying potentially devastating diseases are being let in through the front door.
“The risks to our livestock and plants are grave and very real. Both the horticultural and livestock sectors see this as a disaster waiting to happen. The Government has put all its eggs in the Sevington basket and it needs to make this system work at least until a new system can be agreed with the EU.
“A source of both hope and frustration appears in the very last paragraph. It suggests that when they had a go chasing up on drivers, the drive-bys fell and more checks were carried out. But that was apparently only a pilot and only for plant products. In other words, government won’t commit the resources to keep this going and have not so far expanded it for meat and dairy imports. How terribly short sighted that will look if another outbreak of FMD arises from this farce.”
Temporary solution
The Sevington site was established post-Brexit as a temporary solution to the need to carry out checks on products imported from the EU. These checks are not carried out at the Port of Dover due to the fate of Bastion Point BCP, located at the Port but not in use, still unconfirmed.
The system is expected to be reformed again under a UK-EU deal regarding sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks, which the Government is negotiating with European counterparts this year. It is unclear what the future of the Sevington facility will be under a new border check arrangement, the Committee added.
During an evidence session held on March 3, Defra officials told the Committee that ‘follow up’ checks with vehicles and consignments that do not attend Sevington are carried out. But they did not elaborate on how frequently this happens or how they are carried out as they do not have data.
Defra response
A Defra spokesperson said: “Non-attendance at Sevington Border Control Post is a breach of regulation and we expect the relevant authorities to follow up on any breaches of this.
“Whilst available data on non-attendance shows an overall downwards trend, we recognise the concerns EFRA have raised and are urgently working to address these, including on data availability.”