UK livestock bodies warn ministers Dover border control failings are a ‘disaster waiting to happen’
A coalition of 26 UK livestock trade associations has written to Defra Secretary Steve Reed to express the industry’s ‘serious concerns’ over the current state of border controls at the Port of Dover.
The Livestock Chain Advisory Group (LCAG) told Mr Reed these concerns now cover legal and illegal products of animal origin (POAO). The organisations, which include the NPA, NFU and other UK farming unions, the British Pig Association, British Meat Processors Association, the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, the Livestock Auctioneers Association and Dover District Council as an additional signatory, said they had repeatedly raised concerns with previous ministers about the volume of illegal meat able to enter the country via Dover Port.
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Defra confirms funding withdrawal for Dover illegal meat checks
Dover border checks: Illegal sheep meat posed risk, officials say
More illegal meat seized in Dover amid funding cuts
Dover Port Health Authority (DPHA), in conjunction with Border Force UK, has confiscated more than 100 tonnes of meat since September 2022, but funding for this key work has been cut back since April.
“It is now clear that not only does the scale of the issue suggest organised crime, even though those responsible are not penalised in anyway, that this is just the tip of the iceberg and therefore even greater resource is required, despite the suggested cut to funding,” the letter states.
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