The Animal Products (Control of Personal Importation) (Scotland) Order 2025

Made: 20th August 2025

Laid before the Scottish Parliament: 22nd August 2025

Coming into force: 23rd August 2025

The Scottish Ministers make the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 10 of the Animal Health Act 1981[^f00001] and all other powers enabling them to do so.

Citation, commencement and extent

1

• (1) This Order may be cited as the Animal Products (Control of Personal Importation) (Scotland) Order 2025.

• (2) This Order comes into force on 23 August 2025.

• (3) This Order extends to Scotland only.

Interpretation

2

In this Order—

• “animal by-products” means entire bodies or parts of animals, products of animal origin or other products obtained from animals, which are not intended for human consumption,

• “composite products” means a foodstuff intended for human consumption that contains both processed products of animal origin and products of plant origin,

• “food” and “foodstuff” have the same meaning as they have in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety[^f00002],

• “products derived from animal by-products” means products obtained from one or more treatments, transformations or steps of processing of animal by-products,

• “products from a susceptible animal” means any of the following, consisting in whole or in part, of a body of a susceptible animal, or derived from a susceptible animal— products of animal origin, composite products, or products derived from animal by-products,

• “products of animal origin” means food of animal origin, including blood,

• “susceptible animal” means cattle, a sheep, goat, deer, camel, llama, alpaca, guanaco, vicuna, any other ruminant, any swine (that is a member of the suborder Suina of the order Artiodactyla), or an elephant,

• “territory subject to special transitional import arrangements” means— an EEA state, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, or Switzerland.

Prohibition of personal importation from certain countries of products from susceptible animals

3

The importation of products from a susceptible animal into Scotland from a territory subject to special transitional import arrangements—

• (a) as part of passengers’ personal luggage, intended for personal consumption or use, or

• (b) in consignments sent to natural persons, not intended to be placed on the market,

is prohibited.

Exemptions from the prohibition

4

The prohibition in article 3 does not apply to the importation of—

• (a) powdered infant milk, infant food and special foods required for medical reasons where—

• (i) the quantity, combined with the quantity of any products specified in paragraph (b), does not exceed 2 kilograms, and

• (ii) the products—

• (aa) do not require refrigeration before opening,

• (bb) are packaged proprietary brand products for direct sale to the final consumer, and

• (cc) are in packaging that is unbroken, unless in current use,

• (b) petfood required for health-related reasons where—

• (i) the quantity, combined with the quantity of any products specified in paragraph (a), does not exceed 2 kilograms, and

• (ii) the petfood is—

• (aa) intended for a pet accompanying the passenger,

• (bb) shelf-stable,

• (cc) a packaged proprietary brand product for direct sale to the final consumer, and

• (dd) in packaging that is unbroken, unless in current use,

• (c) confectionery (including sweets) and chocolate—

• (i) containing less than 50% of processed dairy products,

• (ii) shelf-stable at ambient temperature or have clearly undergone in their manufacture a complete cooking or heat treatment process throughout their substance, so that any raw product is denatured,

• (iii) clearly identified as intended for human consumption, and

• (iv) securely packaged or sealed in clean containers,

• (d) pasta and noodles—

• (i) not mixed or filled with processed meat product,

• (ii) containing less than 50% of processed dairy products,

• (iii) shelf-stable at ambient temperature or have clearly undergone in their manufacture a complete cooking or heat treatment process throughout their substance, so that any raw product is denatured,

• (iv) clearly identified as intended for human consumption, and

• (v) securely packaged or sealed in clean containers,

• (e) bread, cakes, biscuits, waffles and wafers, rusks, toasted bread and similar toasted products—

• (i) containing less than 20% of processed dairy products,

• (ii) shelf-stable at ambient temperature or have clearly undergone in their manufacture a complete cooking or heat treatment process throughout their substance, so that any raw product is denatured,

• (iii) clearly identified as intended for human consumption, and

• (iv) securely packaged or sealed in clean containers, or

• (f) food supplements packaged for the final consumer containing less than 20% of processed animal products (including chondroitin), other than meat products.

Revocation

5

The African Swine Fever (Import Controls) (England and Scotland) Order 2022[^f00003] is revoked.

Signed

Jim Fairlie — Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers — 20th August 2025

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Explanatory Note

This Order makes provision for the purpose of preventing the introduction of animal diseases into Great Britain through the bringing of certain animal products into Scotland from certain countries or territories, as part of passengers’ personal luggage for personal consumption or use or by sending those animal products to an individual, not to be placed on the market.

Article 3 prohibits the import of products from susceptible animals into Scotland from territories subject to special transitional import arrangements, as part of a passengers personal luggage intended for personal consumption or use or by sending it to an individual, not to be placed on the market. Products from susceptible animals, by or by means of which disease might be carried or transmitted, are defined in article 2 and are products made or derived, wholly or partly, from cattle, sheep, goats, deer, camels, llamas, alpacas, guanacos, vicunas, other ruminants, swine or elephants. The territories subject to special transitional import arrangements are defined in article 2 as EEA states, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Switzerland. Such products may be imported subject to meeting the requirements for commercial consignments from territories subject to special transitional import arrangements in the Trade in Animals and Related Products (Scotland) Regulations 2012 ([S.S.I. 2012/177](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2012/177)) (“*the 2012 Regulations*”). Restrictions on the import of animal products into Scotland from other countries and territories, as part of a passengers’ personal luggage or in consignments sent to individuals, are to be found in the 2012 Regulations, read with Commission Delegated [Regulation (EU) 2019/2122](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/european/regulation/2019/2122) as regards certain categories of animals and goods exempted from official controls at border control posts, specific controls on passengers’ personal luggage and on small consignments of goods sent to natural persons which are not intended to be placed on the market (EUR 2019/2122).

Article 4 provides that the prohibition in article 3 does not apply to the import of powdered infant milk, infant food, special foods required for medical reasons, petfood required for health-related reasons, confectionery and chocolate, pasta and noodles, bread, cakes, biscuits, waffles, wafers, rusks, toasted products and food supplements which meet certain conditions.

Article 5 revokes the African Swine Fever (Import Controls) (England and Scotland) Order 2022, which restricts the importation of porcine products from territories subject to special transitional import arrangements, in consequence of this Order and amendments that have been made to the special transitional import arrangements in the 2012 Regulations since that Order came into force.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1981 c. 22. Section 10 was amended by S.I. 1990/2371 and S.I. 1993/1813. The power to make Orders under this section was originally conferred on “the Ministers” as defined in section 86(1) of the Animal Health Act 1981. The functions of the Ministers were, in so far as within devolved competence, transferred to the Scottish Ministers by virtue of section 53 of the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46).

[^f00002]: EUR 2002/178.

[^f00003]: S.I. 2022/926.