UK Recasts FMD Import Barriers for Hay, Straw and Animal By-Products
The United Kingdom has tightened its border controls for hay, straw and certain animal by-products from countries and territories not recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health as free of foot and mouth disease. The updated safeguard declarations are designed to reduce the chance that contaminated imported material could introduce FMD into Great Britain through feed, bedding, or processed animal-origin goods that remain relevant to livestock biosecurity.
The move places renewed emphasis on a pathway that is easy to overlook. FMD spreads efficiently in susceptible livestock populations, and contamination can travel beyond live animals through materials that enter farms, holdings, or supply chains with little warning. Hay and straw are especially sensitive because they are handled widely, moved in bulk, and used in direct proximity to animals. Certain animal by-products carry a similar risk profile unless they have been treated in a way that mitigates the pathogen threat.
Safeguard Declarations Expand the Restricted List
Defra has revised the import controls after review, and the new safeguards now apply to hay and straw and certain ABPs from countries, territories or zones that are not currently recognised by WOAH as free from FMD. Greece and Cyprus, which had been covered by earlier FMD safeguard measures, are now incorporated into the broader framework alongside other non-recognised territories.
The updated declarations were published for England, Scotland and Wales, with each jurisdiction covered by a corresponding foot and mouth disease special measures notice. The practical effect is straightforward: imports of the animal products named in the safeguard declarations are suspended unless they satisfy the relevant risk-mitigation requirements set out in those declarations. Products from countries or zones recognised as free from FMD remain outside the suspension, as listed in Annexes 1 and 2 of the declaration.
The structure matters because it draws a clear line between origin status and product handling. A country-level designation alone does not tell the whole story; the declaration also allows some ABPs to continue moving if they have been appropriately treated. In biosecurity terms, that creates a risk-based filter rather than a blanket commercial prohibition.
Treatment Standards Separate Usable Goods From High-Risk Material
The revised policy does not treat all animal-origin material as equally hazardous. Some ABPs may continue to be imported if they have undergone processing sufficient to reduce FMD risk. The declarations therefore operate as a control mechanism at the point where product biology, trade logistics and livestock exposure meet.
For farms and importers, this distinction is more than administrative. FMD is a disease of intense herd-level consequence, and once introduced it can move rapidly through susceptible animals with severe implications for animal welfare, culling decisions, movement restrictions and trade disruption. Hay and straw can act as passive vehicles if contamination is present. ABPs can present a different but still meaningful risk depending on origin, species source and treatment history. The updated declarations attempt to compress those pathways before material reaches holdings in Great Britain.
One sentence captures the core policy shift: imports are now suspended unless they meet the mitigation standard.
Greece and Cyprus Move Into the Broader Regime
Earlier FMD safeguard measures for hay, straw and certain ABPs from Greece and Cyprus have been revoked because the new declarations now cover those countries within the wider restricted category. In effect, the UK has replaced a narrower country-specific arrangement with a broader ruleset that tracks WOAH recognition status rather than relying on a patchwork of separate controls.
That change should matter to import compliance teams, veterinarians advising livestock clients and operators handling consignments of feed-adjacent or animal-derived material. A shipping pathway that was previously governed by a specific safeguard for one country now sits inside a general framework that also captures other territories lacking WOAH recognition as FMD-free. From a border-control perspective, the update reduces the chance that loopholes persist when disease status changes or when trade routes shift.
The approach also signals how the UK intends to manage FMD risk in the current environment: by updating import restrictions in step with international disease recognition, rather than waiting for an outbreak to force a reaction. That creates a more preventive posture, especially for materials that do not look dangerous on their face but can still move biologic risk across borders.
What the Declarations Mean for Livestock Biosecurity
The immediate consequence is tighter scrutiny of consignments that could expose susceptible animals to FMD. For livestock owners, the concern is not abstract. A single contaminated shipment can trigger movement bans, tracing work, disposal measures and wider market disruption. For that reason, the control of imported hay, straw and ABPs is part of front-line biosecurity, not a peripheral trade issue.
The declarations also reinforce the need for exact origin verification. Import controls depend on whether a product comes from a country or zone recognised as free from FMD, and whether any animal-by-product item meets the declared mitigation requirements. Misclassification at that stage can lead to non-compliant imports entering the chain, particularly when consignments are assembled through layered commercial routes.
For practitioners involved in animal health oversight, the change offers a practical reminder that disease prevention often begins far from the clinical case. Containment starts at the point of entry, before infected material can reach holdings where susceptible species are kept.
Enforcement Relies on the Published Declarations
The legal force of the restriction sits in the safeguard declarations published on the topical issues page for imports, exports and EU trade of animals and animal products. Those documents provide the detailed terms for England, Scotland and Wales, and they define which products are suspended, which are eligible only after specific treatment, and which origins remain exempt because they are recognised as FMD-free.
Enquiries are directed to [email protected], through the Imports and EU Trade Team. For importers, veterinarians and livestock operators, the operational message is direct: the new framework is active, the scope is broader than before, and compliance now depends on matching product type, origin and treatment status to the relevant safeguard declaration.
The unresolved issue is not whether FMD matters to British livestock; it does. The remaining task is making sure every consignment of hay, straw or animal by-product is checked against the updated declarations before it reaches the farm gate.