Sevington Non-Attendance
Data
The EFRA Committee has published
data highlighting the significant number of
consignments of flagged meat and plant
product imports that are passing through the
Port of Dover without being checked at the Border
Control Post for dangerous diseases.
There are widespread concerns amongst the farming and
horticultural sectors that limited biosecurity checks
may pose severe risks to UK livestock and plants.
2025 saw outbreaks of African Swine Fever and Foot and
Mouth in Europe, as well as recent crop
and plant disease outbreaks such as
those caused by the Xylella bacteria.
It comes amid growing evidence that, due to a reputation of
inadequate controls at the Port of Dover, criminal gangs
are bringing products into Britain that
would not legally be sold on the continent.
The document was provided by the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
It shows the percentage of consignments of meat
and plant products that were taken, after being
flagged, from Dover to the sole Border
Control Post in Sevington, located 22 miles from
the Port.
DEFRA has provided this data for just three sample
months, November 2024 and August and
November 2025.
Comparisons show that in November 2025, 18%
of flagged consignments of animal-origin such
as meat or dairy were not taken to
Sevington despite being directed to by
the digital systems once they
entered Dover, and therefore were unchecked by
BCP officials. This was up from 8% in August 2025.
DEFRA refers to these non-attendance incidents as
“drive-bys”. A more comprehensive overview of consignment
checks per month since Sevington began operating is not
possible due to gaps in data. The data is collected by
Ashford Port Health Authority which operates Sevington.
In September the Committee
published a report highlighting how the
Sevington facility was inadequate because it relied on
drivers acting in good faith by taking their
consignments there for checks, with very little risk of
enforcement if they failed to do so. It has become
clear that many flout this requirement and continue driving to
their delivery destination, and there remains the
opportunity to unload consignments prior to presenting at
Sevington itself.
EFRA Committee Chair MP said:
“This new evidence from DEFRA paints a picture of a
dysfunctional system. Unchecked meat and plant products carrying
potentially devastating diseases are being let in through the
front door. The risks to our livestock and plants are grave and
very real. Both the horticultural and livestock sectors see this
as a disaster waiting to happen. The Government has put all its
eggs in the Sevington basket and it needs to make this
system work at least until a new system can be agreed with the
EU.
“A source of both hope and frustration
appears in the very last paragraph. It
suggests that when they had a go chasing up on drivers, the
drive-bys fell and more checks were carried out. But that
was apparently only a pilot and only for plant
products. In other
words, government won't commit the resources to
keep this going and have not so far expanded it for meat and
dairy imports. How terribly short sighted that
will look if another outbreak of Foot
and Mouth arises from this farce.”
The Sevington site was established post-Brexit as
a temporary solution to the need to carry out checks on products
imported from the EU. These checks are not carried out at the
Port of Dover due to the fate of Bastion Point
BCP, located at the Port but not in use, still
unconfirmed.
The system is expected to be reformed again under a UK-EU
deal regarding sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks,
which the Government is negotiating with European counterparts
this year. It is unclear what the future of the Sevington
facility will be under a new border check arrangement.
During an evidence session held on 3 March, DEFRA officials told
the Committee that “follow up” checks with vehicles and
consignments that do not attend Sevington are carried out.
But they did not elaborate on
how frequently this happens or how they are carried
out as they do not have data.
ENDS
Further information
- The evidence provided by DEFRA was originally sourced by
Ashford Borough Council, which has responsibility for the
Sevington Border Control Post.
- For context, a consignment and a truck should not be confused
as one truck can carry a number
of consignments. One non-attending vehicle may be
recorded as several drive-bys.
