Animal Products (Control of Personal Importation) (Scotland) Order 2025: equality impact assessment results

Executive summary

Policy aims: This Order’s overarching aim is to protect livestock in Great Britain from disease risks arising from people importing unregulated products from animals susceptible to foot and mouth and other animal diseases, from European Economic Area (EEA) countries, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Switzerland (the EU single market area) for personal consumption or use. The diseases that may be carried or transmitted by such products include, in addition to foot and mouth disease, African Swine Fever, Lumpy Skin Disease and Peste des Petits Ruminants. The instrument is therefore integral to mitigating the risk of the introduction of animal diseases to Great Britain by way of animal products in personal luggage or sent by way of small consignments.

The commodities to be restricted are: fresh meat, meat products, milk, dairy products, colostrum, colostrum products, composite products and animal by-products, with limited exceptions for food for infants, food required for health-related reasons, and certain low risk composite products, subject to conditions.

The Order replaces the existing ban on personal imports of animal products from these countries into Scotland under the African Swine Fever (Import Controls) (England and Scotland) Order 2022 and by way of a declaration of special measures under regulation 25 of the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Scotland) Regulations in response to foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks in the EU. This instrument therefore contributes to the Economy National Outcome.

EQIA scope: the focus of this EQIA is the general population, i.e. travellers returning from the EU Single Market Area.

Key findings: the EQIA considered the public generally, including those with protected characteristics, and includes mitigations specifically intended to advance equality of opportunity for the protected characteristics of age and disability or sex (and to the extent that it may be more likely that women will be the primary carers of infants), without compromising the policy objective of preventing the introduction of animal disease.

Recommendations: Safeguard measures currently control personal imports risks for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), African Swine Fever (ASF), Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), Sheep Pox and Goat Pox (SPGP) and Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). These are a combination of measures under the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (TARP(S)) and the Animal Health Act 1981 (the AHA), depending on the specific circumstance. The disease situation in the EU has now reached the stage where separate, routinely changing restrictions under TARP(S) powers was not fit for purpose. This AHA Order therefore consolidates the separate TARP(S) measures, and it is expected that these will be kept in place until the overall epidemiological situation has improved in the EU single market area.