National Monitoring Plan for POAO: Data Analysis Report 2022-23

This is a summary of the sampling results of imported products of animal origin (POAO) undertaken at UK Border Inspection Posts (BCPs), under the UK’s National Monitoring Plan (NMP), between April 2022 and March 2023.

National Monitoring Plan (NMP) data for products of animal origin (POAO) has been sourced from the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS), GB’s replacement for the EU’s TRACES system.

NMP samples have been identified where the ‘random’ button has been selected on the ‘checks’ tab, as advised by the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) Trade Facilitation Unit. To be aware that not all random samples recorded on IPAFFS are necessarily taken for the NMP, for example those testing for speciation or authenticity are not normally included here. As a result, extracting the NMP data from IPAFFS has necessitated a certain amount of data cleansing.

Overview of sampling carried out

During this period, a total of 2,212 samples were identified as being taken under the POAO NMP.  These were against the following hazard categories:

• Veterinary residues
• Microbiological
• Heavy metals
• Chemical contaminants
• Biotoxins

There is also a summary for NMP sampling of dog or cat food and for other product types not for human consumption also classed as pet food. Otherwise, feed for animals destined for the food chain is not included in the NMP.

As we can see in figure 1, the majority of the samples taken were for veterinary residues (877 or 40%), followed by microbiological hazards (674 or 30%); heavy metals (546 or 25%); chemical contaminants (73 or 3%) and biotoxins (42 or 2%). These ratios closely match those in the same categories in the previous twelve-months reporting period, except for veterinary residues where sampling has decreased by 10%, and heavy metals where sampling has doubled. The total amount of sampling (2,212 samples) is an increase compared with the previous period (1,254 samples), possibly to do with continued increased activity since the decline of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As figure 2 shows, consignments from 42 countries were sampled, most frequently from India (304 or 14%), Thailand (289 or 13%), China (281 or 13%), Vietnam (211 or 10%), Sri Lanka (149 or 7%), New Zealand (98 or 4%), Brazil (92 or 4%), Myanmar (88 or 4%) and Pakistan (82 or 4%).

Please note, countries that have been sampled at less than 2% are classed together as ‘other’ in the figure 2 chart.

Samples were taken from 17 product categories. During this period, fish accounted for 617 samples, with 462 for poultry and 427 for crustaceans. Compared with the previous period, in 2021-22 there was higher sampling of fish (330 samples) and crustaceans (199 samples), while poultry sampling remained largely unchanged. 

Of the samples taken, a total of forty-three were found to be non-compliant (1.9% compared to 0.6% in the previous period). There were non-compliances in the following hazard categories: chemical contaminants, heavy metals, microbiological and veterinary residues, compared with eight non-compliances in the previous period.

 

A summary of the veterinary residues sampling results of imported products of animal origin (POAO) undertaken at UK Border Inspection Posts (BCPs), under the UK’s National Monitoring Plan (NMP), between April 2022 and March 2023.

There were 877 samples from 28 countries taken and checked for the presence of veterinary residues. There were thirteen non-compliant results for Antibacterials, Malachite green, Malachite green-Leuco, Other pharmacologically active substances, and Pesticide residues from Bangladesh and Vietnam. 

The greatest number of veterinary residue samples were taken from China (153 or 17%), followed by India (120 or 14%), Vietnam (120 or 14%), Thailand (78 or 9%), and Brazil (73 or 8%). Countries marked with an asterisk on the table are shown together as ‘other’ on the graph chart.

 

Of the samples tested for veterinary residues, the highest numbers were for nitrofurans (124), chloramphenicol (123) followed by tetracyclines (96), avermectins (58), coccidiostats (49), macrolides (43) and antibacterials (42).

 

A summary of the microbiological contamination sampling results of imported products of animal origin (POAO) undertaken at UK Border Inspection Posts (BCPs), under the UK’s National Monitoring Plan (NMP), between April 2022 and March 2023.

There were 674 samples from 23 countries taken and checked for the presence of microbiological contamination. There were twenty three non-compliant results identified: one each for Aerobic colony count at 30 ºC for 48h, Coagulase Positive Staphylococci, 5 each for Enterobacteriaceae & Eschericia coli, 3 for Eschericia coli (STEC), one each for Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria species (total), Salmonella species, 3 for Salmonella spp., one for Staphylococcus coagulase + and one for Vibrio species, all from Australia, Chile, China, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.

The greatest number of microbiological samples were taken from Thailand (192 or 28%), China (114 or 17%), Vietnam (69 or 10%), Indonesia (57 or 8%), Chile (45 or 7%), India (38 or 6%), New Zealand (28 or 4%), Ukraine (10 or 3%) Serbia (19 or 3%), Brazil (17 or 3%), Bangladesh (16 or 2%), Myanmar (16 or 2%) and Australia (13 or 2%). Countries marked with an asterisk in the table are shown together as ‘other’ on the chart.

 

Of the samples tested for microbiological contamination, the highest numbers were for Salmonella (122), followed by Enterobacteriaceae (106), Listeria monocytogenes (68), Eschericia coli (67), aerobic microorganisms 30°C (40), Staphylococcus aureus (32) and Clostridium perfringens (26).

 

A summary of the heavy metals sampling results of imported products of animal origin (POAO) undertaken at UK Border Inspection Posts (BCPs), under the UK’s National Monitoring Plan (NMP), between April 2022 and March 2023.

There were 546 samples from 22 countries taken and checked for the presence of heavy metals. There was one non-compliant sample for Cadmium Cd from Thailand.

The greatest number of heavy metal samples were taken from India (137 or 25%), followed by Sri Lanka (129 or 24%), Pakistan (66 or 12%), Morocco (40 or 7%) and Myanmar (40 or 7%). Countries marked with an asterisk in the table are shown together as ‘other’ on the chart.

 

Of the samples tested for heavy metals, the highest numbers were for cadmium Cd (178) followed by mercury Hg (144), lead Pb (120) and arsenic As (72).

 

A summary of the chemical contaminants sampling results of imported products of animal origin (POAO) undertaken at UK Border Inspection Posts (BCPs), under the UK’s National Monitoring Plan (NMP), between April 2022 and March 2023.

There were 73 samples from 11 countries taken and checked for the presence of chemical contaminants. There were six non-compliant samples for Benzo-a-pyrene from Ghana.

The greatest number of chemical contaminant samples were taken from Ghana (19 or 26%) followed by Pakistan (14 or 19%) and Sri Lanka (13 or 18%).

 

Of the samples tested for chemical contaminants, the highest numbers were for dioxins (21), followed by benzo-a-pyrene (15), and sulphur dioxide (SO2) (10).

 

A summary of the biotoxins sampling results of imported products of animal origin (POAO) undertaken at UK Border Inspection Posts (BCPs), under the UK’s National Monitoring Plan (NMP), between April 2022 and March 2023.

There were 42 samples from 15 countries taken and checked for the presence of biotoxins. There were no non-compliant samples.

The greatest number of biotoxin samples were taken from Morocco (5 or 12%), Sri Lanka (5 or 12%) and Thailand (5 or 12%).

Of the samples tested for biotoxins, only histamine was recorded (42).

 

A summary of dog food, cat food, and other pet food sampling results of imported products of animal origin (POAO) undertaken at UK Border Inspection Posts (BCPs), under the UK’s National Monitoring Plan (NMP), between April 2022 and March 2023.

There were 87 samples from 8 countries taken and checked for Enterobacteriaceae and Salmonella spp. 

There were four non-compliant results for Enterobacteriaceae from China (2), Thailand (1) and Chile (1). The greatest number pet food samples was taken from China (52 or 60%) and Chile (18 or 21%).

Of the samples of dog or cat food tested, the highest number of tests was for Salmonella spp (45).

Figure 15 - Samples of pet food tested

Hazard	Number of samples
Salmonella spp.	45
Enterobacteriaceae	42
Total	87