UK bans EU cheese and meat imports to prevent disease spreading

The UK government has brought in a temporary ban on holidaymakers bringing in cheese and meat products from the EU in a bid to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

Travellers have not been allowed to bring back items such as cured meat and cheese, including in sandwiches, since Saturday due to the growing outbreak on the continent.

The restrictions apply regardless of whether the goods are packed or packaged, or bought from duty free.

It follows an earlier ban of similar products from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria after rising cases of the cattle disease in those countries.

The restrictions apply to people arriving in Great Britain, not Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, or the Isle of Man.

Products will be seized and destroyed if people try to bring them in, and in “serious cases” people could be fined up to £5,000.

The list of restricted products includes:

• other products made from these meats, for example sausages

• milk and dairy products like butter, cheese and yoghurt

People can bring up to 2kg per person of powdered infant milk, infant food, or special food needed for medical reasons.

Foot and mouth disease is a highly infectious virus which causes blisters inside an animal’s mouth and under their hooves, and can cause lameness and problems feeding.

There are currently no cases of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK.

The last outbreak in the UK was in 2001. Although there were only 2,000 confirmed cases, more than six million sheep, cattle and pigs were slaughtered.

This is because each of those cases meant a farm having all of its livestock killed and burned.

Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National Farmers Union, said the government had been “quick” to bring in the initial ban, and that the NFU was “glad” the government was now extending it.

He said that “stricter border controls are essential” to contain the disease.

Mr Bradshaw called for “a comprehensive cross-government biosecurity plan with the necessary investment behind it, and which would place these restrictions on a permanent legislative footing”.

The Guild of Fine Food, which represents independent food and drink retailers, said the ban on “holiday treats” had been “hurried”, but added it brought UK government policy for holidaymakers more in line with restrictions already placed on small businesses.

“The food and drink industry absolutely supports the fact that we must protect our farmers and that biosecurity is paramount,” said John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food.

However, he said that “bureaucracy” brought in after Brexit had added “significant constraints” for small food and drink importers and exporters.