Foot and Mouth Disease Outbreak in UK  

With respect to the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the UK, our NC in UK is issuing the following statement:

On Friday 3 August 2007, Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) was discovered in cattle on a farm in Surrey, in the South of England. Since then, FMD has been found in cattle on two more farms in the same area. The source of the outbreak is believed to be a nearby animal health laboratory where the same strain of FMD virus is handled for the purposes of research and vaccine manufacture.

Immediately after the initial case of FMD was confirmed, a national ban was imposed on the movement of all cattle, sheep and pigs throughout the UK.

On Monday 6 August the EU Commission introduced a Decision which took immediate effect specifying the conditions under which exports of animals and animal products of species susceptible to FMD may proceed from the UK. This legislation does not apply to animal products produced before 15 July 2007 or to exports from Northern Ireland.

As far as exports of wool and hair are concerned, the Commission Decision provides for trade to continue provided that shipments are accompanied by a commercial document stating either that the goods have been subject to "factory washing" (scouring), or originate from tanning, or, in the case of greasy wool, are "securely enclosed in packaging and dry".

These new requirements apply to exports to other EU countries and to any other countries which do not have specific import requirements for wool and hair. For all other non-EU countries which require imports to be accompanied by UK Export Health Certificates, the situation is not yet clear, although the Chinese authorities have now imposed a ban on the import of all animal products from the UK which were shipped after 8 July 2007. 

IWTO will closely follow the situation  with the UK NC and report to you in case of any further news.