Imports of livestock and meat and dairy products from Germany, outside of the area around its foot-and-mouth outbreak, can now resume, after the UK government recognised the regionalisation principle.
The ban on imports of cattle, pigs, sheep, deer, buffaloes and their products from across Germany to Great Britain was imposed after FMD was identified in a small herd of water buffalo close to Berlin on January 10. HMRC data shows Germany sent more than 117,000 tonnes of pigmeat products to the UK in the first 10 months of 2024, including 61,000t of fresh or frozen pork and 38,000t of sausages, and the ban has seen a re-alignment of the pork import trade into the country.
Germany appears to have contained the outbreak to a single case, and the UK government has made the change because it has officially recognised regionalisation for FMD in Germany at the containment zone level, which covers a 6km radius around the outbreak. Consequently, the export of affected commodities can resume from areas outside this zone, provided all other import requirements are satisfied.
The ban on personal imports of packaged and unpackaged meat, meat products, milk and dairy products, certain composite products and animal by products of pigs and ruminants will remain in place at a country level, however.
Defra said the decision to amend the ban follows rigorous technical assessment of the measures applied in Germany and the current situation. “If the situation changes, we will not hesitate to take necessary action in response to the FMD outbreaks in the European Union to protect our domestic biosecurity,” it said.
The German was the firstcase in Europe for many years, but FMD has since been confirmed in Hungary and Slovakia in March and full imports bans from both countries remain in place.
Defra added that FMD poses no risk to human or food safety, but is a highly contagious viral disease of cattle, sheep, pigs and other cloven-hoofed animals.
It is urging livestock keepers to be ‘absolutely rigorous about their biosecurity’. FMD is a notifiable disease and must be reported.
If you suspect it in your animals, you must report it immediately by calling:
- 03000 200 301 in England
- 0300 303 8268 in Wales
- your local  Field Services Office in Scotland.