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<p>The Animal and Plant Health Agency regularly assess the changing global animal
disease presence and its potential risk to the UK. The most recent assessments for
African swine fever (ASF) were published on the Gov.uk website in March 2020 (for
Europe) and May 2020 (for South East Asia and Oceania). The UK remains at medium risk
for the entry of contaminated or infected products. The risk of exposure to the UK
pig population is highly dependent on the level of biosecurity on individual pig premises
and is low.</p><p> </p><p>In terms of mitigating that risk, EU safeguard measures
restrict the commercial trade of pork and pork products from regions that are affected
by ASF so these cannot be traded with the UK. All countries outside of the EU who
are currently approved to trade in pork and pork products with the UK are free of
ASF. The import of pork products from non-approved countries is illegal. Defra continues
to work closely with Border Force officials to crack down on illegally imported meat
and UK Border officials target and search freight, passengers and luggage at the border
and will seize and destroy illegally imported meat products. A specific communications
campaign about ASF was launched in summer 2019 which included a new poster campaign
introduced in UK airports and ports, to raise awareness of the disease and the risks
of bringing back potentially contaminated products.</p>
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