New Border Limits Set on Pork as African Swine Fever Threat Mounts in UK
New restrictions are being placed on travelers bringing pork products into Great Britain in an effort to protect the pork industry from African swine fever (ASF), BBC reports. The government's Animal and Plant Health Agency has set the risk level that the ASF virus may be brought into Great Britain to "medium."
"The move comes as the highly-contagious disease spreads in mainland Europe, with thousands of pigs and wild boar dying from it or being culled," BBC reports.
Travelers will only be able to bring in up to 2 kilograms of pork now. Anything over that amount will be confiscated, the article said, unless it can be shown to have been produced to commercial standards set forth by the European Union.
The National Pig Association welcomed Thursday's new border controls and shared how recent outbreaks linked to human movement in Italy and Germany are a reminder of the pork industry's vulnerability against this disease. Although ASF poses no risk to humans or food safety, it is deadly to pigs and there is currently no vaccine commercially available.
A representative of The British Meat Processors Association, expressed concern over the increase in small van loads of meat entering the UK from areas with ASF with no border checks.
Read more about ASF here:
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