Controls are in place to reduce the risk of contaminated food (in particular meat and dairy products) and plants being brought into the UK and putting people, animals and agriculture at risk of disease.

The risk can also be economic, the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak in 2001, possibly originating from meat illegally imported into the UK or via catering waste from ships or airlines, is estimated to have cost £3 billion relating to agriculture and the food chain.

Bringing food products into the UK

People travelling outside the EU can check what food they can, and can’t, bring back to the UK by visiting:

• Bringing food and plants into the UK on Directgov

You can also search to find out what food you can bring into the UK using the Personal Import Rules database

Key facts and figures

Please see Annex 1 (Statistics on imports of illegal products) in the Annual Review of Controls on Imports of Animal Products: April 2010 – March 2011 (PDF 260 KB)

The number of seizures of illegal imports of animal products in 2010/11 totaled 16828, approximately a 21% decrease compared with 2009/10, largely through UK Border Agency (UKBA).

Following the spending review, there has been a need for UKBA to restructure and refocus their efforts across border activities. This may have had an impact on seizure levels during the year with a fall in the number of seizures made but there may be other contributory factors including improved passenger compliance with the rules. Seizures of meat and dairy products made by UKBA during the year have decreased by 21% and 16% respectively.

The current situation and background

When travelling outside the EU, there are strict rules about bringing food products, plants and plant products back into the UK for your own personal consumption or use.

Personal imports of meat and dairy products are banned from most countries outside the EU. Certain plants and potatoes may be either restricted or prohibited from most countries outside the EU. Restrictions also apply to other food products, such as fish, shellfish, eggs and egg products, honey and certain fruits and vegetables. Below is a quick summary:

• Banned – meat/meat products, milk/dairy products and potatoes
• 2kg total weight combined per person – bivalves (live), egg products, eggs and honey
• 20kg total weight combined per person or the weight of one fish, whichever weight is the highest (fish must be fresh and gutted or processed - ie cooked, cured, dried or smoked) – bivalves (dead) and fish/fishery products
• 2kg total weight combined per person – certain fruits and vegetables

For more information:

• Plant health controls on personal imports of plants and plant produce and products (PDF 50 KB)
• The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera)

The rules apply to any products carried in your personal luggage or sent by post (including those ordered online) and even if they’re for yourself, bought in a shop (including at an airport), home-grown/made or vacuum packed.

All EU countries have the same import controls as the UK.

UKBA is responsible for anti-smuggling controls at the GB border on imports of animal products from outside the EU. This includes checks on passengers’ baggage, post and freight. Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland (DARDNI) is responsible for controls in NI.

UKBA delivers a flexible, risk based enforcement strategy including information from Defra on entry routes that pose the greatest threat of introducing animal disease, targeting by country of origin, specific intelligence and results from operational checks.

All operational frontline UKBA staff are employed as multifunctional anti-smuggling staff with a responsibility to tackle a range of risks at the border, including dealing with illegal imports of animal products. They are supported by the use of detector dogs specifically trained to detect animal products.

Illegal products will be seized and destroyed by UKBA Officers, which means you could face delays and risk facing prosecution. An illegal product is one that is either banned or has been brought back in an amount that exceeds any weight or quantity limits that apply.

There continues to be a joined-up approach across Government Departments – Defra, UKBA, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) – on the overall GB communications strategy to help raise travellers’ awareness of the rules on personal imports of food products.

We have continued to carry out a variety of public awareness raising mechanisms to help general travellers and also Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities know the rules, including:

• the display of awareness raising posters at GB points of entry;
• the availability of leaflets in different languages explaining the rules;
• the Defra-led TV filler Don’t bring me back which continues to be broadcast on terrestrial and digital channels and highlights the risks travellers face if they bring illegal food products into the UK.  Although it takes a humorous and light-hearted approach, with puppets made to look like food that sing to travellers, the message is very serious.  It focuses on the personal inconvenience of being delayed at the airport as a result of baggage searches by UKBA officers, and of having any illegal food products seized, but ends with the stark warning about the possibility of causing a disease outbreak and also facing prosecution.  It is targeted at all travellers entering the UK from countries outside the EU;
• the targeting of particular audiences at key dates, such as travel periods, BME holidays and festivals etc.

The UKBA leaflet entitled Bringing food products into the UK is available for travellers at ports and airports.

DARDNI is responsible for raising public awareness of the rules on personal imports of food products in NI.

Relevant legislation and regulations

Commission Regulation (EC) No 206/2009 of 5 March 2009 on the introduction into the Community of personal consignments of products of animal origin and amending Regulation (EC) No 136/2004 (and repealing Regulation (EC) No 745/2004).

This is transposed into UK law by: The Trade in Animals and Related Products Regulations 2011 – see SCHEDULE 3, then Case 1: Personal imports and small consignments.

Publications

• Annual Review of Controls on Imports of Animal Products: April 2010 – March 2011 (PDF 260 KB). Welsh language version (PDF 270 KB)
• Imported bushmeat – species identification using DNA profiling – stage 2