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Britain’s farmers are demanding tighter import controls to avoid a repeat of
last year’s epidemic of foot and mouth disease. “Foot and mouth is just the
latest and most devastating unwanted import from a growing list in recent
years,” says Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers’ Union. The NFU says
the most likely source of the outbreak was illegally imported infected meat, and
that the current import regime urgently needs strengthening. More than 4 million
animals, mainly cattle and sheep, had to be slaughtered during the epidemic,
according to official figures.