14 March 2025: Insertion of closing dates in Hungary's and Slovakia's entries in the 'fresh meat of ungulates' list following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Hungary
Updated 14 March 2025
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OVS note: 2025/21
14 March 2025
1. Purpose
To inform you of the insertion of closing dates in Hungary’s and Slovakia’s entries in the fresh meat of ungulates listing, following a recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Hungary.
2. Background
Hungary notified WOAH of an outbreak of FMD on 7 March 2025: WAHIS.
The outbreak was detected in a cattle herd on a farm in Kisbajcs, 1 kilometre from the border with Slovakia.
As a result of this outbreak Hungary has lost its FMD-free status.
The UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance amended its country listings on 7 March 2025 to suspend imports of several commodities from FMD-susceptible animals from the whole territory of Hungary.
Due to the proximity of the outbreak with Slovakia, these measures were also applied to the whole territory of Slovakia (see OVS note 2025/19 for a full list of actions taken).
As part of this, imports of fresh meat of ungulates susceptible to FMD were suspended, through removal of the model certificates BOV, OVI, RUF, RUW, POR, SUF and SUW from Hungary’s and Slovakia’s entries in the fresh meat of ungulates list.
Having assessed the risk associated with FMD in Hungary, the UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance has today (14 March 2025) amended the fresh meat of ungulates list again.
The new list reinstates the BOV, OVI, RUF, POR and SUF certificates to Hungary’s and Slovakia’s entries, but with closing dates of 1 February 2025 inserted in column 7.
As a result of the insertion of closing dates, consignments of fresh meat, meat products and meat preparations from FMD-susceptible animals from Hungary and Slovakia which are currently being held at border control posts (BCPs) may be released if they meet all the following conditions:
- the consignments contain or were made from fresh meat obtained from animals slaughtered before 1 February 2025 - any consignments containing fresh meat with a slaughter date on or after 1 February 2025 should be rejected
- the accompanying certificate was signed before 6 March 2025 - any consignments certified on or after 6 March 2025 should be rejected
- all other requirements for the import of such products into Great Britain are met
Consignments currently being held at BCPs which do not meet all the above conditions should be rejected and dealt with in line with OCR rules for rejected consignments.
All future imports from Hungary or Slovakia of consignments containing fresh meat of FMD-susceptible animals remain prohibited and cannot be certified, regardless of the slaughter date.
Please note that the separate African swine fever (ASF) restrictions, which apply to specific zones in Hungary and Slovakia, are still in place and must be observed. As a result, the POR and SUF certificates have not been re-added to the HU-3 and SK-3 (covering ASF restricted zones II) and HU-4 and SK-4 entries (covering ASF restricted zones III) and cannot be used to certify consignments from those zones.
The certificates covering fresh meat of wild game animals (RUW and SUW) have not been reinstated. This means imports from Hungary or Slovakia of those commodities covered by these certificates continue to be restricted entirely, regardless of the date of slaughter. Any consignments of such commodities being held at BCPs should be rejected.
3. Actions for OVSs
To note the contents of this OVS note.
4. Contact point for enquiries
Email: bbtp-issue-triage@defra.gov.uk
Imports and EU Trade Team