Stop Illegal Meat Trade

Since becoming an MP, I have campaigned vigorously for the introduction of tougher measures in controlling the smuggling of illegal meat into the country as well as heavier penalties for those who commit the crime. The trade in illegal meat is every bit as serious as the illegal drug and arms trade, with perhaps more widespread and lethal consequences when contaminated meat infects mainstream food products. Around 12 thousand tons of illegal meat makes it into the country each year and experts estimate that the trade accounts for over £1bn, making it the third most lucrative crime in the UK.

Illegal meat imports also have a large impact on nature conservation, as the trade is decimating thousands of endangered species in west and central Africa. Many of the hunters who provide the bush meat for export live in abject poverty. Investing more money where it�s needed - at the source of the problem- through international development initiatives, would help reduce the risk of the illegal meat trade taking place all together.

It is now widely accepted that the foot and mouth crisis of 2001 was caused by illegal meat from west central Africa, that made its way into the scraps fed to pigs, which then spread through the air to the sheep population. It took just two weeks for the epidemic to spread across the UK and cost the farming community between £800m and £2.4bn in 2001 alone.

But this is not the only risk we face from a lack of control on the illegal meet trade. Scientists testing the blood of over a thousand pygmies from Cameroon have identified a new virus (Simian foamy virus) in the same family as HIV/AIDS, which the hunters contracted from eating contaminated wild meat known as "bush meat". We already know that HIV originated from West African monkeys and that the closer species are to each other, the easier it is for a virus to jump from animal to animal and from animal to human.


Only 6 sniffer dogs are employed in active detection of illegal meat in our see and airports across the UK and the number is set to rise to 10, in February 2005. The lack of resources means that only 0.6% of If this exposure to danger wasn't enough, Customs and Excise announced massive cuts in their 2003-6 Budget Plans, reducing their frontline staff by 50%. Wales is bearing the brunt of the cuts with Customs staff being cut by 40% and the number of anti-smuggling officers operating in Wales being reduced to Cardiff and Holyhead alone.

With so much of the Welsh economy depending heavily on agriculture, we would be the first to suffer in the event of another decimating epidemic. Many farmers are still recovering from the legacy of foot and mouth in 2001, but the threat of more deadly viruses entering the food chain or jumping the species divide is infinitely more worrying.

I sponsored a Ten Minute Rule Bill in Parliament detailing plans for a single Port Protection Authority to provide blanket coverage against all illegal substances entering the UK and I continue to question and pressure DEFRA and Treasury ministers to invest more money into tackling the trade of illegal meat in this country.

Associated links

Read the Early Day Motion on The Illegal Meat Trade ».
 

Publish date: 24th February 2005
Modified: 7th April 2005

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