Govt delays action on illegal meat imports until 2027 amid EU trade talks
14th November 2025
The UK government said it has acknowledged concerns over the scale of illegal meat imports to the UK, however, the EFRA Committee recommendations to tackle the issue will be considered once the SPS negotiations with the EU have been concluded and implemented – putting off powers to reduce alarming amounts of illegal imports until 2027 at the earliest.
This comes despite a common understanding agreed upon by the UK and EU to strengthen their cooperation in several areas and that the United Kingdom 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.
Its response to the EFRA Committee’s recent report, ‘Biosecurity at the border: Britain’s illegal meat crisis’, has just been published.
The Committee welcomes that the UK government has partially accepted many of its conclusions and recommendations.
In particular, it has committed to taking a more strategic approach and considering forming an inter-ministerial group on the ‘goods border’, but stops short of the taskforce recommended by the Committee.
‘The lack of urgency’
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 were seized during the month of 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, the farming sector and the economy are significant.”
READ MORE: Surge in illegal meat imports fuels food safety fears
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