Animal Plant Health Agency
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This page provides details on particular issues or changes that importers and exporters may need to be aware of.
You can view all of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defras) guidance and forms for:
Defras animal disease monitoring collection covers major, notifiable or new and emerging animal disease outbreaks internationally and in the UK.
Peste des petits ruminants import restrictions: Bulgaria
Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) has suspended the import of the following sheep and goat commodities from Bulgaria following an outbreak of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) that was confirmed on 25 November 2024:
- raw milk and raw milk products (including raw colostrum)
- untreated wool and hair
- fresh or chilled (untreated) skins and hides
Imports of live sheep and goats, their germplasm and fresh or chilled (untreated) skins and hides are already suspended from Bulgaria as a result of the sheep pox and goat pox outbreak confirmed on 4 September 2024. These commodities are also now restricted due to PPR.
For more information, read the lists of? EU?and EFTA countries approved to export animals and animal products to Great Britain for:
- live ungulates
- ovine and caprine ova and embryos
- ovine and caprine semen
- milk and milk products
Untreated wool and hair of sheep and goats and fresh or chilled (untreated) skins and hides of sheep and goats are restricted by the following safeguard declarations, which are published on behalf of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (England), the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretaryfor ClimateChangeand Rural Affairs (Wales) and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands (Scotland).
Read the:
These special measures apply from 18 December 2024 and will continue to apply until they are revoked or amended.
Lumpy skin disease in Japan
Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) has suspended the import of the following bovine products from Japan:
- raw milk and raw dairy products, including raw colostrum
- hides and skins, unless they have been treated in line with point 2 b, c, or d of article 11.9.13 of the WOAH terrestrial code
- all animal by-products (except casings, gelatine, collagen, tallow, hooves and horns), unless the products were processed using heat treatment to a minimum internal temperature of 65C for at least 30 minutes
This is due to an outbreak of lumpy skin disease in Japan that was confirmed on 6 November 2024.
For restrictions on raw milk and raw dairy products, read the milk and milk products list of non-EU countries approved to export animals and animal products to Great Britain.
For restrictions on hides and skins and affected animal by-products of bovine origin, the safeguard declarations below give effect to this decision. These are published on behalf of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (England), the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands (Scotland) and Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretaryfor ClimateChangeand Rural Affairs (Wales).
These special measures apply from 4 December 2024 until they are revoked or amended.
African swine fever (ASF) in the EU and EFTA states
Individuals can only bring pork and pork products from the EU, EFTA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), Faroe Islands and Greenland into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) for personal consumption where the products:
- have been produced and packaged to commercial standards
- bear an identification or health mark or commercial labelling if they are animal by-products
- weigh less than 2kg per person
This is because some pork and pork products that originate from or have been dispatched from these countries pose an unacceptable risk to animal health in Great Britain. This is due to the spread of African swine fever in Europe.
The following safeguard measures give effect to this decision. These are published on behalf of the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (England), the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretaryfor ClimateChang