Government seeks to reassure farmers amid foot-and-mouth outbreak in Germany
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The Government said it will do “whatever it takes” to protect British farmers from an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Germany, as MPs were told how it had previously provoked horror among rural communities in the UK. Farming minister Daniel Zeichner told the Commons the UK has banned the import of cattle, pigs and sheep from Germany. He said the Government will be liaising with officials in Germany and monitoring the outbreak in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
MPs heard the disease had been found in a herd of water buffalo. Mr Zeichner denied there had been a delay in the prohibition being introduced. The outbreak was reported on Friday and the public announcement of the ban was made on Tuesday. He said: “Defra has taken rapid action to protect the UK, including suspending the commercial import of the susceptible animals in Germany, and restricting personal imports of animal products from across the European Union.
“I can assure the House, the Government will do whatever it takes to protect our nation’s farmers from the risk posed by foot-and-mouth – risk levels to the UK, we have increased to medium.”. Mr Zeichner said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will consider vaccination, culling and movement controls if an outbreak occurs in Britain.
