[petnews]

Sniffer dogs to track illegal food imports
By Marie Woolf
01 January 2003


Dogs trained to detect meat and dairy produce in travellers' hand luggage are to be deployed at Britain's ports and airports in a crackdown on imported food. The dogswill catch travellers from outside Europe who from today will be breaking EU legislation designed to reduce the risk of another foot-and-mouth outbreak and protect livestock from foreign pests.

Offenders face an unlimited fine or two years in prison if found with an illegal snack. Travellers from the United States, Canada, African nations and other non-European states will be breaking the law if they try to bring in food "for personal consumption". Only powdered baby milk, infant food and medical food products are exempt. Until today all travellers were allowed to import up to 1kg of meat if it was cooked.