Foot and Mouth Disease Outbreak in the United Kingdom

Issue 025, August 14, 2007

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on August 3, 2007 notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) has been diagnosed in cattle in the United Kingdom (UK). FMD is a highly contagious, viral disease of cattle, swine and other cloven-hoofed animals, such as goats and sheep. The virus is not transmitted from animals to humans, but does have serious implications for livestock in any country where the disease is detected.

Importation of live ruminants (cattle, sheep, and goats) and ruminant products is currently prohibited entry due to the UK’s bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) status. With the recent diagnosis of FMD in the UK, the importation of live pigs is now prohibited, and swine meat and by-products are also prohibited and must be refused entry.

In response to the outbreak of FMD, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is taking the following actions:

• Passengers on private, charter, and commercial aircraft will be questioned and their baggage examined if they have visited a farm or ranch in the UK during the past 30 days.
• CBP Agriculture Specialists will disinfect all footwear and equipment worn or used on a farm, ranch, or pasture in the UK.
• All pork and pork products found in passenger baggage of those passengers arriving in the U.S. from the UK will be confiscated by CBP.

Effective August 3, 2007, commercial shipments of live pigs and pork by-products from the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) will be refused entry and must be destroyed or exported.

David C. Dusellier
Port Director

DISCLAIMER: This information has been prepared for your convenience by the local CBP office. This material is intended to provide guidance. Recognizing that many complicated factors are involved in Customs matters, an importer may wish to obtain a binding ruling under 19 CFR Part 177. Reliance solely on this information may not be considered reasonable care. Importers are referred to Treasury Decision 97-96, which was published in the Federal Register of December 4, 1997, and in the Customs Bulletin of December 17, 1997, for in-depth information on the concept of reasonable care.