International trade: Exports of animals, animal products and germplasm to non-EU countries - UKECP and ECUG
Background
Following an outbreak of any notifiable disease (like Foot and Mouth Disease FMD) in the UK there is a need to put resource into regaining access to non-EU markets (Third Countries) which might become unavailable to UK exporters as a result of the UK’s change in disease status. To assist in this, following the 2001 FMD outbreak , a livestock, pig meat, semen and embryos Export Certification User Group (ECUG) was formed by representatives from relevant industries, organisations, and staff from within Defra’s International Animal Health Core Team to help prioritise Defra’s resources for reopening trade markets. Through ECUG, and by working closely with British Embassies and High Commissions, many important trade markets have been re-opened. A similar ECUG for dairy products was formed during this time and enjoyed similar success.
On 28 October 2008, Defra and the UK livestock export industry launched a new partnership to help exporters enjoy a larger share of the global market.
The new UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP), builds on the success of ECUG, and will further improve the use of joint Defra/industry efforts to negotiate with non-EU markets have been re-opened.
Reopening of trade routes
The FMD incident in the UK (Surrey, England) in August 2007, with the last confirmed outbreak occurring on 30 September saw the need to start again with many of these negotiations. Some Third Countries imposed trade bans on certain FMD susceptible UK commodities.
Many export health certificates were suspended because they could no longer be signed due to the 2007 FMD incident, or because Third Countries imposed bans on certain commodities. International Animal Health (IAH) Core Team in Defra are currently negotiating with Third Countries to re-open markets for FMD susceptible animals and animal products that are considered to be a priority. The ECUG was quick to act on once again prioritising markets, and UKECP has now evolved to allow industry to take on more responsibility in both reopening trade routes following disease outbreak, and opening brand new markets to UK exporters of livestock and livestock products.
Initially a three year trial, UKECP is an informal industry working group that:
- Liaises with the UK livestock and livestock product industries to establish export market priorities;
- Provides a forum to discuss the use of Defra agents to negotiate export health certificates on behalf of the UK; and
- Helps to draft and follow through the agreement of export health certification which is generally required before exports can commence.
We have worked closely with industry representatives since August 2007 on a number of priority markets which were weighted to take into account the number of times particular certificates were issued during the 12 months preceding the FMD outbreak. Many of the export health certificates deemed as a priority have been made available for trade use and so the focus has now moved onto opening other priority markets (where there is a need for more detailed negotiations) as well as focusing on the high priority markets which require ongoing long term negotiation.
Due to the procedures involved in negotiations and the sometimes numerous amendments being made to health certificates to make them sign able, it may take some time before some export health certificates are made available for use. We will endeavour to update stakeholders and the industry via this website and our Customer Information Notes (CINs) on progress.
Tables: Priority Markets
UKECP now covers the work of the Livestock, Genetics & Meat ECUG. The priority table will be made available after the first prioritisation meeting, and will then be kept updated as regularly as possible.
We have also established a further two ECUGS for Poultry, and Skins, Hides & Wool. The Poultry ECUG priority table will be on the website shortly.
If you require further information you should contact your local Animal Health Divisional Office for advice.
- Skins, Hides & Wool ECUG priority table (PDF 16 KB)
The information is current on the date shown on the table.
Available Export Health Certificates
A list of all Export Health Certificates (PDF 141 KB) is available. While we will endeavour to keep the list up to date, exporters are advised to confirm availability and obtain a specimen of the certificate from their local Animal Health Divisional Office (AHDO) before submitting any applications.
Specimen Export Health Certificates
Specimens of some of current livestock and genetics export health certificates are available as PDF files on this table.
Page last modified:
November 13, 2008
Page published: September 15, 2006