Inability to trade live animals with EU damaging pig sector, Rebecca tells Farming Today

The NPA’s Rebecca Veale has told BBC Farming Today how the inability to trade live animals with the EU due to new Brexit requirements is damaging the UK pig sector.

Rebecca was interviewed as part of a longer feature on the programme about how the new requirement for Border Control Posts (BCP) to inspect animals exported from and imported to the UK is causing disruption across the livestock sectors.

You can listen to the feature HERE (from 3.30 mins, with Rebecca's interview at 5.50 mins)

Questioned about the impact on pigs, Rebecca said: “Unfortunately, on the routes through seaports we would use, there are currently no Border Control Posts.”

She highlighted how BCPs were an issue for individual companies and not something EU Governments had control over. She said the NPA was ‘working really hard’ with some countries who are interested in putting a BCP in place, but stressed, while progress is being made, none are accepting live animals.

“For the pig industry in the UK, it is really important that we export breeding animals. There are a small number of breeding companies and the ability for them to operate in this country and abroad is of relevance to all producers.”  

Search for new BCPs

NPA senior policy adviser Charlie Dewhirst updated the NPA’s Pig Industry Group on the search for new BCPs at EU ports at its latest meeting.

A possible site has been found inland near Calais, although it still needs approval from the French authorities and Brussels. Other options include the Hook of Holland and Zeebrugge. However, none of the facilities have yet been constructed, so it is likely to be some time before exports can resume.

The need for BCPs to check live pigs coming into the UK from the EU has been delayed until the start of 2022 – various possible sites have been identified.