Border & Biosecurity

In recent months, Great Britain has updated import restrictions, particularly from EU countries, in response to outbreaks of animal diseases and associated risks. Below are the key areas of concern

Foot and Mouth Disease

While Slovakia was declared FMD free back in October 2025, import restrictions had remained in place until 23 February. However, DEFRA has now removed these restrictions, this means that all the countries in the initial EU outbreak (Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia have had their restrictions relaxed as there are classed as free from FMD without vaccination. This means that exports are free to resume providing all other areas of export health certification are met

Yet diseases outbreaks are like whack-a-mole, as one is stamped out another appears elsewhere. This time in Cyprus. An outbreak was discovered on 20 February, resulting in restrictions as below once again being applied

• live (including non-domestic) ruminant and porcine animals, including wild game, and their germplasm
• fresh meat from ruminant and porcine animals (including chilled and frozen)
• meat products from ruminant and porcine animals that have not been subject to specific treatment D1, D, C or B (including wild game)
• milk, colostrum and their products, unless subjected to treatment as defined in Article 4 of Regulation 2010/605
• certain animal by-products
• hay and straw
• casings
• dry and securely enclosed in packaging; and
• sent directly to a plant producing derived products for uses outside the feed chain or a plant carrying out intermediate operations under conditions which prevent the spread of pathogenic agents

Sheep and Goat Pox

Great Britain has suspended the import of fresh or chilled (untreated) hides and skins of sheep and goats from the Republic of North Macedonia, although we do not see a lot of this type of import.

This is due to an outbreak of sheep pox and goat pox (SPGP) in the Republic of North Macedonia that was confirmed on 27 January 2026.

In addition, imports of untreated wool and hair of sheep and goats are now only permitted if they are: 

Outbreak of Bluetongue virus in Ireland

In response to the outbreak, the UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance updated its Live Ungulates list on 27 January 2026 to apply Supplementary Guarantee ‘A’ to the entry for the Republic of Ireland. This guarantee requires all live ruminants exported to GB from the Republic of Ireland to be vaccinated against all serotype/s of BTV circulating in the country. 

However, BTV-3 vaccines authorised for use in the EU cannot currently be used for trade due to the lack of information on the duration of immunity of the vaccine, meaning they cannot comply with the relevant part of the certificate. Consequently, imports of live ruminants from the Republic of Ireland cannot be certified for export to Great Britain.  

In addition to the above, the loss of BTV-free status for Ireland means that imports of ruminant germinal products from the Republic of Ireland are now required to comply with the relevant testing requirements for BTV .

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) – European Union (sheep & goats)  

Due to a PPR outbreak confirmed in 2025, GB continues to suspend imports from multiple EU countries. This is due to outbreaks of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) that were confirmed on: 

• 11 July 2024 for Greece 

• 19 July 2024 for Romania 

• 25 November 2024 for Bulgaria 

• 24 January 2025 for Hungary 

• 13 December 2025 for Croatia 

Imports of the following sheep and goat commodities are suspended 

• Live sheep and goats  

• Germplasm  

• Raw milk and milk products  

• Untreated wool and hair  
• Untreated skins and hides from sheep and goats.  

Personal imports from the European Union 

Individuals cannot bring certain products of ruminant and porcine origin from the European Union (EU), EEA states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Switzerland into Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) for personal consumption. This is due to animal disease outbreaks across the EU. 

This applies to the fresh meat, meat products, milk, dairy products, colostrum, colostrum products and certain composite products and animal by-products of ruminant and porcine origin.   

Exemptions from these rules include: 

• infant milk 

• medical foods 
• certain low-risk composite products (including chocolate, confectionery, bread, cakes, biscuits, pasta and food supplements containing less than 20% animal products)   

African Swine Flu (ASF) - Spain  

Great Britain has immediately suspended the imports of raw and insufficiently treated pork products from Spain or containing Spanish-origin meat. The disease was detected in two wild boars in the region of Barcelona.   

 Spanish authorities have instructed their official veterinarians that, at the national level, no further export certificates can be signed for affected products destined for Great Britain.  

This means that the Official Veterinarians in Spain will not sign any export certificates of affected consignments until the ASF free area is recognised by the Spanish Government and European Commission.  

Meat products treated with less than treatment “C” (A minimum temperature of 80 °C, which must be reached throughout the meat and/or stomachs, bladders, and intestines during the processing of the meat product and treated stomachs, bladders and intestines.) are prohibited for import and will be rejected  

For the avoidance of doubt, only B and C treatment types are sufficient – D, D1, E and F are insufficient to mitigate the disease. The treatment type A is NOT sufficient, as this means the goods are entirely untreated   

Please don’t bring your consignment as it will be detained until further instructions are released relating to the outbreak regions and treatment.  

If your products are treated as “LOW risk,” then a heat treatment declaring minimum temperature will need to be provided.  

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) - European Union  

Great Britain continues to suspend the import of the following bovine commodities from Italy, France and Spain:  

• Live cattle  

• Germplasm (unless collected before certain cut-off dates)   

• Offal (except the diaphragm and masseter muscles).  

• Raw milk and raw dairy products, including colostrum   

• Certain animal by-products, including hides/skins unless processed in a way that mitigates LSD risk.  

This follows confirmed LSD outbreaks in Italy (21 June 2025), France (29 June 2025), and Spain (3 October 2025).   

  
The restrictions remain in force until revoked or amended. Importers must follow the published safeguard declarations and ensure all required processing and documentation. This ensures GB remains free from LSD while allowing trade in low-risk or treated products to continue. For further guidance on low-risk imports, read more  here .

As always, our bulletin highlights the key areas of current concern for GB imports. Other animal and animal-product imports may also be subject to restrictions. If you are unsure about the requirements for your consignments, please contact EORI (UK), where our specialist technical team can provide tailored advice and guidance.  

Please note that the information provided is accurate at the time of publication but may change over time.