The NPA has urged the government to learn the lessons from its response to Germany’s foot-and-mouth outbreak, as it reacts to the disovery of African swine fever (ASF) in Spain for the time since 1994.
Following confirmation on Friday of cases in two wild boar found dead approximately 1km apart, near the Autonomous University of Barcelona, reports suggest more suspected cases have been discovered near the Catalan city.
Spain is the world’s second biggest pork exporter, with the 2.7m tonnes exported in 2024 valued at over €8.8bn, according to Interporc. In the first nine months of 2025, the UK imported 56,000t of pigmeat products from Spain, 11% up on 202.
Defra has announced that all fresh pork and other affected products from Spain will be held at Border Control Posts until further notice, and that it will ‘continue to monitor the situation and keep all measures under review’. “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.
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’.
However, the government 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.
NPA reaction
NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson said: “The news from Spain is of real concern. Obviously, this could have a huge impact on Spanish pig producers, with a knock-on effect on the wider EU and UK pork sectors, if Spain faces significant restrictions on exports over a prolonged period.
“This incident also starkly highlights the huge threat posed by the ASF virus – and its continued ability to pop up anywhere at any time, in this case, as many times before, with humans undoubtedly playing a significant role.
“There was a lot of concern over the government’s handling of the FMD outbreak in Germany earlier this year as banned commercial products reportedly continued to enter the UK after the ban was imposed.
“We urge the government to ensure there is no repeat this time – and that its systems and communications are up to scratch, so that banned product from Spain cannot get past our borders.
“We also continue to call on the government to provide sufficient funding for port health authorities and Border Force for the vital work they do in intercepting the huge volumes of illegal meat entering the country, particularly at Dover. These products often originate from ASF-infected parts of Europe, as criminal gangs target the UK because of its reputation for soft border controls.
“The government, as various committees of MPs have stressed, must weigh the relatively small resource required against the huge cost of a notifiable disease outbreak like ASF or FMD.
“We urge all parts of the pig sector – producers, processors, hauliers and the allied industries – to collectively ensure the strictest biosecurity standards are adhered to at all times. A UK outbreak of ASF is possible, but not inevitable if everybody plays their part.”
Regionalisation
Ms Wilson also highlighted the steps Spain has taken with trading partners, notably China, to ensure regionalisation agreements are in place to protect trade from outside infected areas in the event of an ASF outbreak.
“We have heard nothing official from the UK government about any attempt to forge vital regionalisation agreements. It is clear that there are huge benefits from having these in place before notifiable diseases strike – and we urge the UK government to be as proactive as possible in this area to help protect our vital export market.”