In Parliament this week, Shadow DEFRA Minister and veterinary surgeon Dr Neil Hudson MP sounded the alarm over the alarming biosecurity risk at our borders, and the disastrous potential for harm to animal health. He called on the Government to step up and tighten the nation’s biosecurity.
At Oral Questions to DEFRA, Dr Hudson exposed the alarming reality of a potential crisis if the Government do not step up and take action, with14.2 tonnes of illegal meat seized at Dover in just one week in March this year.
The Government themselves have admitted to Dr Hudson in answer to a written parliamentary question that, between December 2025 and April 2026, 28.3% of vehicles flagged at Dover for further checks at Sevington Border Control Post simply did not turn up.
Dr Hudson also highlighted that DEFRA have revealed to him that they now do not even have publicly available data on the amount of illegal meat being seized, leaving us unable to even assess the scale of the risk we face.
This alarmingly comes on top of the fact that the department previously had data that demonstrated up to April 2025, 72,872 kilogrammes worth of illegal meat had been seized that year, close to the total amount seized in the whole of 2024 (92,382kg), highlighting the scale of the problem the Government now do not publicly measure.
With African Swine Fever advancing up the continent of Europe, and Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks in Cyprus and Greece in 2026, and in Germany, Hungary and Slovakia in 2025, Dr Hudson pressed the Government to step up their action as a matter of urgency, to protect us from the catastrophic risks of animal disease outbreaks.
Averting this potential disaster at our border is something Dr Hudson has urged the Government to address repeatedly, highlighting the need for action in the House of Commons on a number of occasions, as well as highlighting the need for fully funding a redevelopment of the Animal and Plant Health Agency Headquarters in Weybridge, something he called for no fewer than 17 times in this Parliament both orally and in writing before the Government committed an additional £1billion for this beyond the £208million they already committed.
The National Audit Office agree on the urgent need to address both illegal meat imports and the Animal Plant and Health Agency Headquarters in their 2025 report ‘Resilience to animal disease outbreaks’, which he also raised with the Government last year:
In the Commons Chamber Dr Hudson asked DEFRA Ministers:
“A crucial way to support pig farmers is ensuring healthy pigs. That requires strong biosecurity and stopping illegal meat imports.
When I asked DEFRA about these imports, they say data are now not available.
But alarmingly, Dover Port Health Authority reported seizing 14.2 tonnes of illegal meat in just one week this March.
And DEFRA have admitted to me that in the first quarter of this year 28.3% of vehicles flagged at Dover did not turn up for checks at the Sevington Border Control Post.
When we have Foot and Mouth in Europe just last year and African Swine Fever advancing up the Continent, we run the risk of a catastrophic animal disease outbreak.
For the sake of pig and indeed all livestock farmers, when will this Government wake up, tighten our biosecurity and strengthen border controls before it is too late?
Afterwards, Dr Hudson commented:
“We are facing nothing short of a potential biosecurity disaster at our borders from illegal meat imports if the Government do not wake up and act now.
The Government must fully support the port authorities to clamp down on illegal meat imports, and they must collect and analyse the data as a priority.
“They must get mechanisms in place so that flagged vehicles cannot simply disappear into the country unchecked.”
“Our farming industry and the health and welfare of farm animals is at risk and I will keep pressing the Government to act.”
