2 weeks Ago By Quim Aranda
No more ham for friends or family living in Great Britain. At least legally and temporarily. People arriving from the European Union and other European countries will no longer be able to bring in a number of meat and dairy products starting this coming Saturday.
The ban, which aims to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, which is ravaging some countries in the east of the continent, affects both tourists and residents returning from their holidays. Those entering directly into Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man, Jersey, or Guernsey are excluded. The restrictions on a practice that is very common among those who travel frequently across the English Channel include all types of pork, beef, sheep and goat meat, mutton, venison, and derivatives, such as sausages, as well as milk, butter, and cheeses.
Also included are items such as sandwiches with meat or dairy fillings, cured meats, and raw meats, whether vacuum-packed or not, or whether purchased in duty-free shops before flying. Currently, no cases of foot-and-mouth disease have been detected in the UK – the last outbreak was in 2007 – but this year cases were confirmed in Germany in January, and in Hungary and Slovakia last month. The British government had already banned imports of personal products from cattle, sheep, and other ruminants, as well as pork and dairy products from these three countries.
Now, the restriction has been extended to the entire EU, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. However, up to 2 kilos per person of powdered baby milk, infant food or special foods for medical reasons may be brought in, but only if they do not require refrigeration before consumption and are in branded, sealed and unopened containers, unless currently in use. A highly contagious disease Prohibited food products will be seized and destroyed if declared to Border Force officers at Customs.
Random searches may also be carried out, which could lead to longer than usual queues at the borders. Border Force may not only seize products if it believes they have been brought in illegally or if the permitted limit of a restricted product has been exceeded, but it could also destroy any items, including clothing or bags, that it believes have been contaminated by the product, for example, with meat blood. Foot and mouth disease is a viral disease that causes fever and blisters in the mouth in cloven-hoofed ruminants such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats.
It poses no risk to humans, but outbreaks often lead to trade restrictions like the current ones. In 2001, the disease led to the slaughter of millions of animals in the UK and the loss of billions of pounds, causing a severe crisis in British agriculture. 2,000 cases were detected, but each case resulted in the farm having to cull and burn all its livestock, and more than six million sheep, cattle, and pigs were slaughtered.
The first outbreak in Germany in 36 years occurred in January, and 55 goats, sheep, and cattle on a farm in Brandenburg had to be culled as a precaution. In mid-March, cases were detected in Hungary, with more than 3,500 cows culled in the Gyor-Moson-Sopron county in the north of the country. Following the outbreak in Hungary, cases were detected on five farms in southern Slovakia, leading the country to declare a state of emergency.
On April 2, Hungary deployed soldiers and imposed new disinfection measures in the northwest, near border regions, to contain the outbreak. The following day, Austria closed 21 border crossings with Hungary and two with Slovakia..
