Foot and mouth disease has brought minimal disruption to the dairy sector to date, only affecting biosecurity costs and disruption of niche non-EU exports. Virtually all milk was being collected, said Jim Begg, director general of Dairy UK, while EU exports were expected to resume this week without complication once the necessary veterinary certification was in place. Strong demand for dairy at home and on the Continent should ensure alternative markets were easily found for rejected non-EU exports, he added. Demand is already outstripping supply in the milk sector, with July production thought to have fallen short of target by 75 million litres, attributable to the summer floods and reduced yield as cows were moved indoors. Widespread culling of herds would seriously tighten supplies if the outbreak spread, but as The Grocer went to press this was looking unlikely. "Exports of dairy products to the EU, which constitute 82% of dairy exports from the UK, will not be affected by the outbreak," said Begg. "The one question mark is over the speed with which exports outside the EU can resume. These constitute a relatively small but nonetheless important part of our total output." Dairy UK is pushing Defra to adopt the same certification procedures for non-EU as EU exports, allowing suppliers to negotiate with individual countries to lift their bans. In the meantime, the dairy sector is "erring on the side of caution" with its biosecurity measures, he said. If the outbreak escalated further, it would certainly cause disruption but supply would continue, he said. With no public health risk, an adverse consumer reaction is not expected and lessons had been learnt from the previous outbreak in 2001, he said. "Nothing the Commission is asking for from the dairy industry isn't already in place." First Milk, the UK's largest dairy co-op, has established a FMD team meeting twice daily to review the situation. Measures include disinfection of hauliers' wheels and drivers' feet.

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