Foot and mouth: Could it happen again?

The National Farmers' Union is giving its own assessment of the lesson to be learned from the foot and mouth outbreak.

It's expected to accuse the government of failing to keep proper controls on the import of meat, and not being properly prepared for an outbreak of the disease.

The union, which wants a review of European Union legislation governing imports, says the current regime is "in urgent need of review and strengthening" with more centralised coordination of responsibility and activity.

Ministers also face criticism in the report for failing to prepare properly for possible disease outbreaks.

Do the controls on meat imports go far enough? Could another outbreak happen again?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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Your reaction

Three years ago my vet said that the veterinary profession knew that this disease would return to the UK. Why, I asked - because of lack of inspection of meat products coming into the UK, his reply. Government knows this, but it does not fit well with its desire to give trade in agricultural products to third countries.
David Turton, Sussex, England

I believe it is the Government's intention is to reduce British animal farming by 30-40%

McDonald, England

Foot-and-mouth or another disease will happen again! As I believe it is the Government's intention is to reduce British animal farming by 30-40%. So something else has to happen and will!
McDonald, England

Who knows? Without any public enquiry, we don't even know how it happened last time, let alone whether it will happen again or not.
Hugh, UK

In this context, restrictions will only be useful if everybody observes them. With this in mind I have no doubt that another outbreak is only a matter of time.
Chris B, England

By all means try your best to stop infected meat entering the country, but can someone please think about what caused the disease to spread so quickly once it started? Our policy of transporting livestock willy-nilly over the whole country changed what might have been a small localised problem into a devastating nationwide crisis. That is where lessons need to be learnt.
CNS, Durham, England

Has Australia ever experienced the devastating effects of the foot-and- mouth disease? No! Then why has the British Government not tightened import and export controls of all meats?
Jacqueline Archer, Hong Kong

Clearly the import laws aren't strong enough. Here in Switzerland, although we can go to a different country to do our shopping, we are only allowed to bring back 1kg of meat per person, because that is what the government thinks one person can consume for themselves. Britain has suffered in the past through bad farming policy, but now it is suffering because of poor farming policy in other countries, as well as poor policy on imports. It seems cruel to farmers to have to suffer again, not through the fault of their own industry, but through the fault of civil servants and bureaucrats who don't understand their plight.
Karina, Switzerland

There should be a blanket ban on the import of all foodstuffs

K Sadler, UK

Of course it can happen again, because nothing has changed. Travellers still bring meat into the country through every port and airport, and the ending of feeding swill to pigs is like blocking one hole in a colander. There should be a blanket ban on the import of all foodstuffs, animal or vegetable by anyone other than regulated importers. I imagine it would be a simple matter to train dogs to check luggage for food (my dog does it by instinct) and anybody about to highlight the costs of such a policy need only look at the estimates of what the F&M outbreak cost us, for their justification.
K Sadler, UK

If, as everyone seems to suspect, the cause of Foot & Mouth (and swine fever) was illegal meat imports and there have been no changes in control and monitoring of meat imports, I would suggest that future attacks are not just possible but highly likely. It seems that the Government not only ignored the lessons of previous outbreaks, they refuse to learn from the recent one. Astonishing.
Martha, England

This is typical comment from the farmers. If I am not mistaken, the foot and mouth outbreak was caused by farmers trying to cover up the evidence that this disease was present. I think there is every possibility that foot and mouth can happen again.
Ed, UK

The next outbreak is a matter of when, not if

Dr Adam Jacobs, UK

Anyone who thinks that strengthening controls on meat imports would give a 100% guarantee that foot and mouth could not be imported again clearly doesn't understand the way the world works. If we persist with the daft policy of refusing vaccination, then the next outbreak is a matter of when, not if.
Dr Adam Jacobs, UK

The NFU President, Mr Gill, should be ashamed of his disingenuous comments. His members were all over the place where proposals to resolve foot and mouth were concerned and I well remember his support for the government at the time. I assume that his apparent change of heart and consequential whingeing now are more to do with him wanting to hang on to his position rather than a desire to offer constructive solutions.
Robert Crosby, Nottingham, UK

Either we're stricter on imports or we admit defeat and vaccinate

Bev, UK

Could somebody explain why at US, Australian and New Zealand airports, any foodstuffs imported into the country have to be declared? Why not at Heathrow and Gatwick - surely we get flights from more countries than Australia and New Zealand? Either we're stricter on imports or we admit defeat and vaccinate.
Bev, UK

It's like asking the question "Will the flu be around next winter amongst the human population?"
Fraser Howse, Essex, England