Representing members engaged in the international meat trade

Import Overview


Where Can Great Britain Import From?

Only approved countries can send meat to Great Britain. These gov.uk webpages show which countries and establishments have approval:

The UK Office for SPS Trade Assurance provides topical updates on trade of animal products here

Note: there are other conditions for import which must be met, including around paperwork and import checks. 

Contribution to UK Economy

Unfortunately, no official output statistics exist for the sector, but taking the difference between the value of duty paid on imports and the value of these products at retail and food service level, it is estimated that the contribution of this sector to the UK economy is more than £1.8 to 2.0 billion.

Imported meat provides an important supply of product used by the catering, manufacturing and retail sectors. It supports employment throughout the food chain from plants cutting and packing for the retail sector, down to small cafes. Throughout the chain it provides employment for the service industries such as the ports, cold storage and freight sectors.

Food Security

The Department of Health and Social Care (England) recognises food poverty as ‘the inability to afford, or to have access to, food to make up a healthy diet’.  In 2020/21 approximately 2.5 million people used a foodbank in the United Kingdom, over 600 thousand more than the previous year.  Throughout the provided time period, the number of foodbank users has increased in every year, from just under 26 thousand in 2008/09.  Lower-income families spend a greater percentage of their income on food and therefore higher prices have a greater impact on this group of society. Meat is a valuable source of protein, vitamins and minerals and therefore all parts of society should have affordable access to these products. 

Self-sufficiency is not synonymous with food security as it fails to protect a country against disruptions to national supplies from animal disease etc. International trade has an important role to play in spreading and sharing risk and volatility. The key to food security is flexibility of supply.

Global Demand for Protein

On the global market the dynamics are changing with rising affluence in countries such as China, India and Brazil where there is an increasing demand for meat. Such developments provide opportunities for the UK to export parts of the carcass less popular with British consumers but may also reduce the availability of other cuts for the UK consumer.

Seasonality of Supply

Seasonal factors mean that ruminant production is not necessarily efficient and sustainable all year round in the UK so imported product can complement domestic production and keep a consistent year-round supply, as in the case of lamb.

Matching Supply and Demand

Meat is a unique sector of the food market as meat production is a process of deconstruction rather than manufacturing from a mix of raw materials. Imports thus play an important part in matching supply and demand. The UK market does not consume all parts of the carcass in the same proportions. Exports provide an opportunity to gain a better return for offal etc., whilst British consumers have a high demand for lamb legs, mince and chicken breast. This demonstrates how trade is two way and why imports cannot be ignored when pushing for increased exports.

Providing Appropriate Supplies to all in the Food Chain

Within the industry, the supermarkets tend to dominate, leaving the catering sector, which traditionally needs large volumes of a smaller group of cuts, more dependent on imports. The supply to the catering sector needs to be consistent over a sustained period of time. The specification requires that steaks, for example, be uniform in size, shape, colour, fat cover etc.

Because of the numbers of cattle slaughtered in any one abattoir in the UK, to collect a consignment like this would be extremely difficult, but with the larger throughput of animals in South America, the quantity could be packed in a matter of days by one plant.

What we really need is robust import, domestic production and export markets fit for the 21st Century.

Self-sufficiency

Some might argue that producer incomes would be boosted if the UK were more self-sufficient in food.

The meat sector is unique in that it disassembles its product (from carcases into cuts of meat) and UK consumer demand is not in direct proportion to the cuts from the carcase.

Satisfying UK consumer demand for popular cuts like chicken breasts would also produce surplus product with no real market in the UK, such as chicken feet.

This surplus would have to be exported or disposed of at a cost to the producer and the costs of disposal are significant.

Some third countries highly value such products; however market access work is required to open new markets and maintain existing market access. 

If there is a large surplus of product with no available market this will bring down returns to producers.