Two Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politicians have written a joint letter to Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) Minister Andrew Muir and Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) secretary of state, Steve Reed, raising concerns about the lack of animal disease controls for Northern Ireland.
The letter by MLA Robbie Butler and MP Robin Swann, follows Reed’s announcement of a ban on cheese and meat imports into the UK from the European Union (EU) to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
Swann has previously submitted a number of Written Questions to Defra, and said the department was unable to answer how many consignments of animals or food products which enter at Dover then attended Sevington inland border facility for further inspections.
The politicians have said that this has raised concerns that these animals or food products could enter the UK unchecked while there are stricter controls on individuals.
Animal disease control
According to the UUP, Defra has claimed to be unable to share information due to the process being “intelligence-led” and due to the “dynamic nature of biosecurity controls”.
Robbie Butler, who is chair of Stormont’s Agriculture Committee, raised the concern with DAERA, asking for the details of any controls that are currently in place to ensure that animals or food products that have not been inspected at Sevington, despite a request from Dover, are prevented from entering Northern Ireland.
The UUP MLA claims that in his response, Minister Muir has “abdicated any responsibility” of protecting Northern Ireland from these potentially harmful products.
The two politicians claim that the agriculture minister in NI is blaming the Windsor Framework Regulations which now puts the movement of live animals and food products into Northern Ireland under the remit of Defra.
This follows an announcement from the Dover Port Health Authority which said the funding from Defra for meat checks at Dover falls short and will make the implementation of the necessary early “immensely challenging”.
The two UUP politicians said they have asked for a joint meeting with Minister Muir and secretary of state Reed to ensure that people and industry in Northern Ireland are receiving the same protections and safeguards from the recent reported outbreaks of foot-and-mouth in Europe as the rest of the UK.
Last month, DAERA reiterated its call for livestock owners in Northern Ireland to be vigilant following the reprorts of food-and-mouth disease in Europe.
The department said strict controls are in place limiting the importation of animals and animal products from countries with a FMD outbreak.
DAERA said at the time that it was closely monitoring the situation and confirmed that there has been no movement of susceptible species into Northern Ireland from Hungary or Slovakia during the established risk window.
