Diseased meat 'flooding into UK'
ASSOCIATED PRESS in London
Diseased and rotting meat that may be the source of Britain's foot-and-mouth epidemic is being smuggled in daily, officials say.
Critics say Britain relies too heavily on hit-and-miss spot checks at ports, and regular and tighter controls are needed on foodstuffs coming into the country.
Clive Lawrance of Ciel Logistics, which oversees licensed meat imports through Heathrow Airport, said that on 14 flights alone last year, officials seized 5.5 tonnes of illegal meat, some of it "rank and full of maggots".
"That's just the tip of the iceberg," he said. "I reckon at least five tonnes a day are coming into the country through Heathrow. It's high-risk material and almost nothing is being done to stop it. So you could say this disaster was inevitable."
Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said this week that diseased foreign meat, perhaps from an illegal shipment or carried by a passenger, could have found its way into improperly cooked pigswill and set off the epidemic.
Official figures show that about 200 illegal consignments of meat are intercepted coming into Britain each month.
On one flight from Nigeria last May, 1,100kg of illegal meat and fish was found, including live crabs and snails.
London's Evening Standard reported that one of its journalists went to a London street market and bought a large smoked rodent for £17 (HK$190), thought to have come from West Africa, an area afflicted by foot-and-mouth. Similarly, a television team bought crudely butchered cow and goat parts.
Mike Young, of the Association of Port Health Authorities, said no one was specifically designated to make regular checks for meat products often hidden in consignments of fruit and vegetables. "Anyone can walk in carrying almost anything," he said.
Food safety expert Professor Hugh Pennington, of Aberdeen University, said US border checks "are much stricter and they have millions of people coming through. They've avoided the disease, so why can't we?"
The United States, which has been free of foot-and-mouth since 1929, has banned all meat and livestock imports from the 15 European Union nations since the British outbreak.
Travellers who acknowledge that they have recently been on a farm or have meat or other foodstuffs that could carry the disease are taken aside for questioning. The US Department of Agriculture uses sniffer dogs to detect contraband meat and soiled boots on passengers coming off flights from affected countries. All dirty shoes are disinfected.
All commercial imports of animals or animal products from countries outside the EU must be checked at border inspection posts. Individuals may bring any amount of meat and dairy products - except unpasteurised milk - into Britain from the EU.
From non-EU countries, they may bring up to 1kg of cooked meat in hermetically sealed containers provided it comes from one of 25 approved countries.
Yesterday, the British Government appeared to be backing away from the use of vaccination to contain the outbreak as fears grew that the livestock disease might have spread to Germany.
In what would be the first case in Germany since the British outbreak began five weeks ago, two piglets were suspected of having contracted the highly infectious disease at a farm at Kleve, near the Dutch border.
Although the European Union has given the go-ahead for a limited vaccination programme in Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair seemed to be backing away from the idea, insisting there was support for the present slaughter policy.
"People believe that the policy we have got is the right policy," Mr Blair said during a visit to southwest Scotland, a foot-and-mouth hot spot. "People want us to pursue it."
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