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OVS note number:Ìý2025/43

Date:ÌýÌý24 June 2025

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To inform you that Defra has reviewed the actions taken by the Austrian Competent Authority in response to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Hungary, on the Hungary-Austrian border, and concluded that the FMD-related commercial import restrictions from Austria implemented in response can be lifted.ÌýÌý

As a result, the temporary import restrictions on relevant commodities from Austria have been lifted, provided that all other import conditions can be met and all attestations in the relevant health certificates can be certified:ÌýÌý

• live (including non-domestic) ruminant and porcine animals, including wild game, and their germplasmÌý
• fresh meat from ruminant and porcine animals (including chilled and frozen)Ìý
• meat products from ruminant and porcine animals that have not been subject to specific treatment D1, D, C or B (including wild game)Ìý
• raw and pasteurised milk and raw and pasteurised milk products of FMD-susceptible animals (including colostrum)Ìý
• animal casings of ruminant and porcine animalsÌý
• certain animal by-productsÌýÌý
• hay and straw

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Hungary reported a further outbreak of FMD on 26 March 2025: . The outbreak was detected in cattle on a farm in GyÅ‘r-Moson-Sopron County, within 10 kilometres of the border with Austria.ÌýÌý

Due to the proximity of this outbreak with Austria, the UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance amended its country listings on 27 March 2025 to suspend imports of several commodities from FMD-susceptible animals from the whole territory of Austria (see OVS note 2025/25). The UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance further amended the fresh meat of ungulates list on 10 April 2025 to insert closing dates in Austria’s entry (please see OVS note 2025/28).Ìý

Defra has now reviewed the measures implemented by the Austrian Competent Authority in response to the outbreak and concluded that the FMD-related import restrictions from Austria can be lifted from 24 June 2025.Ìý

The UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance amended its third country listings on 24 June 2025 to lift the suspension on imports of the following commodities from FMD-susceptible animals from Austria:   Ìý

• live ruminants and swine: model certificates BOV-X, BOV-Y, OVI-X, OVI-Y, RUM, POR-X, POR-Y and SUI have been re-added to Austria’s entry in the country listing
• ruminant and porcine germplasm: whole country approval has been reinstated for Austria’s entries in the , , , and country listings
• fresh meat of certain domestic and non-domestic ruminants and swine: the closing date has been removed from the entry for Austria which covers the BOV, OVI, RUF, and SUF model health certificates in the country listing - the RUW and SUW model certificates have also been reinstated to Austria’s entry
• meat products: heat treatment ‘D1’ has been replaced by heat treatment ‘A’ in columns 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11 of Austria’s entries in the country listing
• raw and pasteurised milk and raw and pasteurised milk products (including colostrum): ‘0’ has been replaced by ‘+’ in columns A and B of Austria’s entry in the country listing
• certain animal by-products (ABPs)

‘FMD-susceptible animals’ means a cow, bull, sheep, goat, deer, camel, llama, alpaca, guanaco, vicuna, any other ruminant, any swine (that is, a member of the suborder Suina of the order Artiodactyla) or elephant.Ìý

Safeguard measuresÌý

In addition, the following safeguard declarations were published on our imports topical issues page on 24 June 2025 to lift FMD-related restrictions for Austria:Ìý

• Declaration of special measures: importation of certain products from Hungary and SlovakiaÌý
• Declaration of special measures: importation of untreated wool and hair from Hungary and SlovakiaÌý
• Declaration of special measures: importation of animal casings from susceptible animals from Hungary and SlovakiaÌý
• Declaration of special measures: personal imports of products from susceptible animals from EEA states, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and SwitzerlandÌý

The new safeguard measures, published separately for England, Scotland and Wales, apply on a GB-wide basis from 25 June 2025 and will continue to apply until they are revoked or amended.Ìý

Please be advised that, while the basis of the restrictions in the ‘Declaration of special measures: personal imports of products from susceptible animals from EEA states, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Switzerland’ document removes reference to Austria, the restrictions remain unchanged. This means that no products of FMD-susceptible animals can be imported from the EU single market area (EEA states, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Switzerland) into Great Britain as personal imports – including from Austria. Please see OVS note 2025/29 for a full breakdown of these restrictions.Ìý

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Note, Austria’s ongoing bluetongue virus 3 (BTV-3) status requires compliance with Supplementary Guarantee (SG) ‘A’ (as denoted in column 6 of the list). BTV-3 vaccines authorised for use in the EU cannot currently be used for trade due to the current lack of information on the duration of immunity of the vaccine, meaning they cannot comply with the relevant part of the certificate. Consequently, imports of live ruminants from Austria cannot be certified.Ìý

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Note that, for the purposes of certification, whilst these restrictions were applied to Austria due to the proximity of FMD outbreaks in Hungary and Slovakia, Austria did not lose its FMD freedom (without vaccination) status. Country and territory FMD freedom requirements (such as, to have been free for 12 or 24 months, as appropriate), are therefore certifiable as normal.Ìý

ABP general import authorisationsÌý

General import authorisations for non-harmonised ABP (IMP/GEN/2025/05) and display items (IMP/GEN/2025/06) have been revoked and replaced with IMP/GEN/2025/08 and IMP/GEN/205/09.Ìý These authorisations may now be used for imports of ABPs originating from Austria.ÌýÌý

Contact point for enquiriesÌý

·¡³¾²¹¾±±ô: imports@apha.gov.ukÌý

Imports and EU Trade Team