UK doing physical checks on just 5% of imported animals, watchdog says

The National Audit Office (NAO) has reported that only 5% of live animals entering the UK are physically checked, significantly below the target of 100%, raising concerns about biosecurity and the risk of animal disease outbreaks such as bird flu and foot-and-mouth. The delays in implementing post-Brexit border checks and the flow of illegal meat through ports pose further threats to biosecurity, prompting calls for an urgent action plan and better coordination among agencies. In response, the UK government has taken steps to ban personal imports of certain animal products following disease outbreaks in Europe.