The UK government has defended its decision to continue importing poultry meat from Hungary after recent outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza in the country.

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The Food Standards Agency and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs have confirmed that the strain of H5N1 bird flu found at a turkey farm owned by Bernard Matthews in Suffolk is identical to outbreaks in Hungary last month.


An investigation into whether the disease came into the country via Bernard Matthews’ imports of partially processed turkeys to its Suffolk food processing site is underway.


Environment Secretary David Miliband told the BBC that blocking Hungarian imports would have been in contravention with European free trade rules. “If we had done that, the EU would have taken a very dim view of what we had done and may well have taken measures against us,” he commented.


Farming bodies such as the National Farmers Union (NFU) have said that, if the investigation does uncover a link between meat imports and the spread of the disease, action should be taken.

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“We believe that if it is confirmed that contaminated turkey meat from Hungary was the source of the Suffolk AI incident then there should be a full review of import control procedures on meat and meat products in to the UK,” the NFU said in a statement. “The NFU has not called for a ban on turkey meat from Hungary. However, this is such a serious issue for our poultry industry that we would expect a prompt review of import control procedures if it is confirmed that this is how the virus entered the UK.”