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Biosecurity cannot wait for SPS deal, warns committee

[ November 24, 2025   //   ]

Biosecurity threats at Britain’s borders cannot wait for Government to conclude SPS negotiations, warns the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee.

EFRA says that while the Government has acknowledged many of its concerns about the scale of illegal meat imports to the UK, many core recommendations to tackle the issue will only be considered once the SPS negotiations with the EU have been concluded and implemented – putting off powers to reduce “alarming” levels of illegal imports until 2027 at the earliest.

This is despite a common understanding agreed by the UK and EU to strengthen their cooperation on several areas, and that the UK should be able to take targeted action to protect its biosecurity. In May, the Government announced that work has begun on an agri-food deal which will establish a UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Zone.

EFRA’s comments followed publication of the Government’s response to the Committee’s recent report, ‘Biosecurity at the border: Britain’s illegal meat crisis’, on 11 November. 

The Committee however welcomed the Government’s partial acceptance ofmany of its conclusions and recommendations, in particular, a commitment to take a more strategic approach and considering forming an inter-ministerial group on the ‘goods border’, though stopping short of the taskforce recommended by the Committee. 

The Committee’s report highlighted the limited powers of UK systems and procedures to halt the large and increasing volumes of meat entering the UK. Since the report was published, the Dover Port Health Authority has revealed that more than 20 tonnes of illegally imported meat was seized in September 2025. 

While the Government has partially accepted some of the Committee’s recommendations, including a commitment to rebuild the relationship between Defra and the Dover Port Health Authority, MPs are concerned about the lack of urgency from ministers.

Chair of the EFRA Committee, Alistair Carmichael MP, said: “The SPS Agreement is not going to regulate those who chop up animals and transport them in suitcases – which we witnessed on the Committee’s visit to the Port Health Authority in Dover. The Government’s approach to threats to the UK’s biosecurity is to leave the UK sitting in the firing line. Pathogens don’t wait for policy — that’s why urgency in biosecurity matters.

“African Swine Fever, Foot and Mouth Disease – whatever the next threat to animal health will be – we cannot wait for the UK’s negotiations with the EU to conclude, never mind wait for implementation. Our report found that there is currently no effective deterrent to meat smuggling and the risks to animal and human health, our food security, farming sector and the economy are significant.”

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