The UK has lifted a ban on meat and dairy imports from Germany imposed in the wake of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in January.
From Monday (24 March), “the import ban currently in place due to the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on cattle, pigs, sheep, deer, buffaloes and their products such as meat, and dairy from Germany will be amended”, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.
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China and Malaysia had already lifted bans on milk and dairy products from Germany earlier in March, although South Korea and Ireland have not publicly announced any lifting of restrictions.
Bans were put in place in January when Germany identified the first case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the country since 1988. The outbreak was traced to water buffalo in Brandenburg, near Berlin, its agriculture ministry said at the time as the government instigated measures to contain the disease.
While Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) has not responded to a request for comment, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) had “reinstated” FMD-free status “for almost all of Germany” on 12 March.
The ministry acknowledged in a statement: “This follows an application by the Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Food (BMEL) to approve the creation of a containment zone, which the WOAH approved.
“The FMD-free status applies country-wide apart from the actual containment zone, for which both the suspension of FMD-free status and the requirement to implement certain FMD containment measures will remain in place until at least 11 April 2025.”
Defra added in its statement yesterday that the UK’s decision “follows rigorous technical assessment of the measures applied in Germany and the current situation”.
The government-related agency continued: “Great Britain 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.”
Restrictions will, however, remain in place for “personal imports” of packaged and unpackaged meat products from Germany, as well as “milk and dairy products, certain composite products and animal by products of pigs and ruminants”, Defra said.
Meanwhile, Defra’s rolling update notice on FMD said the disease was also detected in Hungary on 7 March and in Slovakia on 21 March. Bans have consequently been put in place by the UK for those countries.
The restrictions apply to fresh, chilled and frozen pork derived from so-called “ruminant and porcine animals”, along with live animals in those classes and wild game, Defra said.
Dairy products, namely milk, colostrum and related products, are also affected from across Hungary and Slovakia.
Commenting on the FMD-free status from WOAH, Germany’s agriculture minister Cem Özdemir said in the 12 March statement that the decision “sends a clear message to our trade partners”.
He added: “Official WOAH confirmation provides an important basis for our talks with third countries and will benefit exports.
“I am confident that our international trade relations for the agricultural products involved will quickly normalise and that our producers will soon be able to start supplying their usual markets.”
Ireland is also maintaining a ban on meat imports from Germany and has also placed restrictions on Hungary and Slovakia.
Slovakia has confirmed three “outbreaks” of FMD in cattle, within 20km of the earlier detection in Hungary, Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said in a 21 March update.
The ministry stressed that no animals “susceptible to FMD” such as cattle, sheep or pigs have been imported into Ireland since 1 January.
It added: “Ireland’s controls to prevent FMD include strict prohibitions on the imports of animals and animal products from countries in which FMD is present; a comprehensive veterinary surveillance system to detect unusual disease outbreaks; and active follow up and veterinary investigation of any suspects reports.”
