Government plans to cut the budget for illegal meat seizures at the Port of Dover by 70% has been called 'catastrophic' for the British pig sector.
Defra is considering the budget cut for work carried specifically for the purpose of keeping African swine fever (ASF) out of the country.
The National Pig Association (NPA) said it would leave the UK pig industry exposed to a potentially devastating outbreak of ASF.
The NPA has joined the Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA) and Dover Council in urging the department to reconsider the plan.
The DPHA, working with UK Border Force, seized 1.1 tonnes of illegally imported meat at Dover on Saturday 13 January alone, highlighting the scale of the work.
Defra introduced new rules in September 2022 making it illegal to bring pork and pork products over 2kg into Britain unless produced to the EU’s commercial standards,.
Since then, DPHA and Border Force have seized more than 57 tonnes of meat products, often bought in in very large quantities.
This has been described as "just the tip of the iceberg", with significantly greater volumes getting through undetected.
This has prompted calls from DPHA, the NPA and others for Defra to put more resource into the activity, given the impact of an ASF outbreak.
DPHA is also being asked to extend this work to Coquelles, where the Channel Tunnel starts in France, identified as a key risk point for the illegal meat trade.
However, last month, Defra announced it would be cutting the funding provided to police the ASF measures by as much as 70%, according Lucy Manzano, head of port health & public protection at Dover District Council.
“They want us to do twice the work in two different locations, with Coquelles presenting far more significant challenges, with a reduced budget,” she said.
“We don’t have enough resources now to provide the number of people needed on the ground to cover a 24-hour period, so there are gaps and that’s why we have called for greater resources."
She explained how the scale of the illegal trade in pork through Dover had 'shocked everyone' since the work start in September 2022.
“With very minimal resource, we have found significant amounts – we are talking mega numbers,” Ms Manzano said.
She warned that cutting funding by 70% would make it impossible to continue this work in its current form, especially with the extra resource required for Coquelles.
NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson said the decision to cut funding and would leave the UK pig industry exposed to a potentially devastating outbreak of ASF, which she said would be 'catastrophic'.
“This makes it absolutely imperative that, rather than slashing funding, more resources are made available for this absolutely critical work, especially as there is currently no detail on the personal imports checks will supposedly serve as a replacement.
“Mitigating the risk of incursion of all notifiable diseases starts with prevention. What government is proposing will essentially create an opening in our borders which didn’t previously exist.”
