Concerns raised over Defra’s response to FMD threat

Defra has rejected claims that it failed to respond quickly enough to a confirmed outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Germany on 10 January 2025.

During an Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) committee evidence session on Tuesday (4 February), Helen Buckingham, a chartered environmental health practitioner, said colleagues told her the import restrictions were changed on 11 January, but the IPAFFS [Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System] took a week to update.

See also: GB import ban on German livestock following FMD outbreak

“In that time things got through,” she said.

“That was rather remarkable and I was getting calls from inland authorities saying, ‘hang on a minute, I’ve just got some German whey product turning up, what do I do with it?’,”

This, Ms Buckingham warned, exposed the UK to potential vulnerabilities in its border enforcement.

Lucy Manzano, head of the Dover Port Health Authority, told the committee she had also been made aware that, for six days, German products were able to clear the systems designed to detect them.

“Products within scope of the FMD controls were able to auto-clear the system,” she added.

But Defra firmly rejected these claims. A spokesperson said although it took until 15 January for IPAFFS to update, manual controls were put in place immediately, which prevented any slippage of German products through the system.

A Defra spokesperson said: “Restrictions were immediately brought in on animal products from Germany to prevent an outbreak. 

“We ensured that auto-clearance facilities were superseded by robust biosecurity controls which were implemented at pace following confirmation of the outbreak.

“We are unequivocal that importing illegal meat products is unacceptable – which is why suspected products are routinely checked at the border to ensure they don’t reach our shores,” the spokesperson added.