Animal Plant Health Agency
class="gem-c-govspeak govuk-govspeak govuk-!-margin-bottom-0">
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.
Foot and Mouth Disease import restrictions: European Union
14 January 2025
Individuals can only bring certain products of hoofed animals (ungulates) from the?EU,?EFTA?states, the Faroe Islands and Greenland into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) for personal consumption. Products brought in from these countries must:
- have been produced and packaged to EU commercial standards and weigh no more than 2kg per person?
- bear an identification or health mark (or commercial labelling if it is an animal by-product) to evidence it is commercially produced.??
This applies to the fresh meat, meat products, milk, dairy products, colostrum, colostrum products and certain composite products and animal by products of ungulates, subject to the exemptions below.
Additionally, individuals cannot bring any of these products from Germany into Great Britain for personal consumption, including commercially produced and packaged.
These products pose a risk to animal health in Great Britain due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Germany confirmed on 10 January 2025.
Exemptions from these rules include infant milk, medical foods and certain low risk composite products (including chocolate, confectionery, bread, cakes, biscuits, pasta and food supplements containing less than 20% animal products).
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 Secretary?for Climate?Change?and Rural Affairs (Wales) and the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands (Scotland).
Read the:
These special measures apply from 15 January 2025 until they are revoked or amended.
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Germany
13 January 2025
Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) has suspended the import of the following commodities to Great Britain from Germany, following an outbreak of FMD that was confirmed on 10 January 2025:
- live (including non-domestic) ungulates (ruminants and porcine animals, including wild game) and their germplasm
- fresh meat from ungulates
- meat products from ungulates that have not been subject to specific treatment D1 or higher (including wild game)
- milk, colostrum and their products, unless subjected to treatment as defined in Article 4 of Regulation 2010/605
- animal by-products, unless treated to effectively mitigate the risk of FMD
These restrictions are set out in the relevant lists published here: EU and EFTA countries approved to export animals and animal products to Great Britain.
Further safeguard measures restricting the commercial import of animal by-products and hay and straw from Germany, unless treated to effectively mitigate the risk of FMD, will be published in due course on this page.
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: