February 4, 2008

US removes ban on UK meat
 

The US has lifted a ban on the UK pig industry, which was imposed after the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease.

The US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service had made the decision after a re-evaluation of the situation.

UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is currently working on relevant export health certificates and the first batch, which will include pork and breeding stock, will be available in the next few days.

British Pig Executive (BPEX) chief executive, Mick Sloyan expressed his happiness at the news and that he hopes other countries will have similar confidence as the US when negotiations are held to re-establish markets the UK has lost due to the disease outbreak.

The news will be extremely well received for the UK pig industry that is facing increasing hardship.

All bans have been lifted with the exception of meat from Surrey.