The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has warned that further delays to new customs checks on the import of animal and plant products into the UK threatens to “open the door even further to the potential incursion of African swine fever” - which it said is already “spreading rapidly” in Europe.
The UK has been shut out of the EU’s biosecurity and assurance systems since Brexit and the new controls, promised for July, are essential to providing a “first line of defence” against viruses, the organisation said.
