UK holidaymakers face £5,000 fine for buying cheese in France after rule change

UK holidaymakers are being warned they face a fine of up to £5,000 if they buy cheese in France, yoghurt in Greece or various meats in any EU country and bring them back to the UK.

With summer holiday season just around the corner, many of us will be planning our holidays or have already booked something for this year, with the likes of Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Greece always high up on the list of the most popular holiday destinations thanks to resorts like Benidorm, Mallorca, St Tropez and Gran Canaria or city breaks like Rome, Paris and Madrid.

But today, Wednesday April 16, the government announced it has put in place sweeping changes to personal imports, with a ban on bringing various meats and dairy products into the UK from the EU, including buying them on holiday and trying to bring them back through customs.

The ban is a bid to curb the threat of foot-and-mouth disease, which has been found on the continent, but there are no confirmed cases in the UK yet.

Gov.uk announced on Twitter: “Important changes to personal imports.

“You can no longer bring meat or dairy products from EU or EEA countries into Great Britain for personal use. This includes beef, pork, lamb, mutton, venison and goat meat, and all dairy products like cheese, butter or yoghurt.

“If you're travelling over Easter weekend, check what you can and can't bring back before you go.

“These new measures are to protect farmers from the spread of foot and mouth disease though there are currently no cases in the UK.”

Those who fail to declare the banned food items at the border could be prosecuted, the government warned.

It adds via gov.uk: “If you declare banned food products to Border Force officers at customs, they’ll take them away and destroy them.

“If you do not declare banned food products, you could be prosecuted.”

In a previous release on Saturday, the government added that it could fine people £5,000 for ‘serious cases’.

It said: "Those found with these items will need to either surrender them at the border or will have them seized and destroyed. In serious cases, those found with these items run the risk of incurring fines of up to £5,000 in England."

Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner said: “This government will do whatever it takes to protect British farmers from foot & mouth.

“That is why we are further strengthening protections by introducing restrictions on personal meat and dairy imports to prevent the spread of the disease and protect Britain’s food security.”