Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Tougher border control needed to protect Scottish pig producers from African Swine Fever threat

NFU Scotland wants tougher border controls to protect the pig industry from African Swine Fever.
NFU Scotland wants tougher border controls to protect the pig industry from African Swine Fever.

The UK Government must introduce stronger border controls if Scotland’s pig producers are to be protected from the growing threat of African Swine Fever (ASF), NFU Scotland has warned.

Defra’s decision to increase the risk status of people bringing in the highly-contagious disease from medium to high after cases spread west across Europe to parts of Germany was a welcome development, the union said.

But it said the government should go further and introduce border control inspections on meat entering the country.

This is particularly important as new cases appear to have ‘jumped’ several hundred kilometres from previous ones – something vets think could be due to human movement with infected produce or equipment.

NFU Scotland said some supermarkets and manufacturers are currently importing meat from ASF-free regions of Germany, as well as other countries that have the disease.

Threat would devastate Scottish pig herd

However no checks are carried out on Animal Health Certifications to ensure meat is disease-free, the union said.

NFU Scotland’s pigs committee chairman Jamie Wyllie said ASF would devastate the Scottish pig herd if it reached the country, making it vital Defra closed the ‘gaping hole’ in the UK’s biosecurity.

NFU Scotland pigs committee chairman Jamie Wyllie.

“(The UK Government’s) plans to postpone proper border checks on food entering the UK from Europe until the end of 2023, given the rising disease threat, remain completely unacceptable,” he said.

“It must ensure checks are in place for products of animal origin entering the UK, in the same way that Europe requires checks on UK products entering the EU.”

Mr Wyllie, who farms at Ruchlaw Mains, Stenton, Dunbar, added: “Protecting our border from disease ingress and implementing proper inspection of meat being imported into our country is entirely in the UK Government’s hands.

“ASF is not in the UK and the Government should be doing everything within its powers to keep it out.”

Conversation