Strict new controls restricting the movement of pork and pork products into Great Britain to help safeguard Britain’s pigs from the threat of African swine fever (ASF) have been announced today (Wednesday 31 August 2022).

African swine fever poses no risk to human health, but is a highly contagious disease for pigs and wild boar. In recent months it has been spreading in mainland Europe leading to the deaths of thousands of pigs and causing significant disruption to the meat trade. With no vaccine available, the disease poses a significant risk to our domestic pig herd and our long-term ability to export pork and other pork products around the globe.

The new control, which comes into force from Thursday 1 September 2022, will strengthen the requirements for bringing pork and pork products into Great Britain from the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association states. It will no longer be legal to bring pork or pork products weighing over two kilograms, unless they are produced to the EU’s commercial standards. This does not apply to commercial imports, which remain unaffected by the control.

This action comes following the publication of a new risk assessment, conducted by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, which recognises that the chance that the ASF virus may be brought into Great Britain stands at ‘medium risk’. It found that the most likely way the virus could be introduced to Great Britain is by a member of the public bringing pork or pork products back from an ASF-affected country. This measure will help limit possibly infected pig meat being brought into Great Britain through various means, such as in passengers’ luggage or in vehicles.

Biosecurity Minister Lord Richard Benyon said:

“An outbreak of African swine fever is one of the biggest threats our pig industry faces today. We are not complacent and this decisive and proportionate action will stop the entry of pork products that pose the greatest risk. It is essential we maintain the highest levels of biosecurity and all visitors to the UK will need to abide by these new regulations.”

UK’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Richard Irvine said:

“If African swine fever ever reached the UK it would have a severe and damaging impact on our pigs and pig industry. A single outbreak of this highly infectious disease would also harm relations with our trading partners and threaten the livelihoods of thousands of our pig farmers.

“We are taking this action to limit the risk of disease spreading by banning people bringing in high-risk pork and pork products that could carry this virus until further notice. Everyone can do their bit to help stop animal diseases spreading to this country by simply not bringing pork and other meats onto our shores.”

Welsh Government Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths said:

“African swine fever is a highly fatal viral disease which is a major threat to our pig industry. Although not present in the UK, it is spreading across Europe and this timely action is important in helping to prevent the disease reaching our shores. We continue to monitor the international situation very closely and review our disease control tools.”

Everyone can help to stop the spread of ASF to the UK by doing the following:

• If you are visiting non-EU countries, you must not bring any pork or pork products back to the UK.
• If you are visiting EU or EFTA countries (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein), you must not bring pork or pork products which are over 2kg unless they meet EU commercial production standards.
• Disposing of leftovers or food waste in secure bins that pigs or wildlife cannot access.
• Farmers, the public and members of the food industry should practice high biosecurity standards, including never feeding catering waste, kitchen scraps or meat products to pigs, which is illegal and can spread the disease.

The government continually monitors disease outbreaks around the world to assess whether there may be risks for the UK and takes action to limit the risk of the disease reaching our shores.

Objective

The Conflict, Stability and Security team in British High Commission are seeking bids that pilot innovative approaches to addressing the interconnected challenges associated with conflict dynamics, climate change and livelihoods in Sri Lanka. All projects should be conflict sensitive to ensure interventions do no harm, contribute to stability, and do not inadvertently generate tensions between different communities. Interventions should be locally appropriate, gender responsive, adapted to the Sri Lankan economic situation and aim to support a green economy that helps mitigate climate risk.

Project content requirements

Any project must focus on the nexus of conflict dynamics, climate change and livelihoods stressors in Sri Lanka. Based on the contextual analysis, the programme will need to be inclusive, culturally sensitive, tailored to local conditions, conflict-sensitive, environmentally sustainable, and locally owned. Technical interventions should include climate resilient livelihoods, environmental/natural resource management, and community mobilisation.

The implementer may pilot interventions under the following suggested sub-themes:

Evidence gathering

• research into the impact of climate change upon specific communities in Sri Lanka to help inform strategies for supportive interventions

• undertake consultation with households and communities regarding the livelihoods options most likely to suit them based on their existing livelihoods practices. Access to natural resources; the particular microclimate in their area, the impact on crops and livestock, market linkages, cultural practices as well as other relevant factors, defined by the consulted households/communities, will all need to be considered

Interventions

• pilot direct economic/livelihoods support for conflict-affected communities that respond to environmental degradation and the resulting livelihoods challenges. These should identify, examine and aim to reduce intercommunal tensions and the possibility of people returning to violence and conflict. The project should integrate ecosystem-based adaptation throughout, for example: promotion of climate smart and eco-friendly agriculture or by using community Natural Resource Management mechanisms
• facilitate community led participatory processes to develop locally-led adaptation plans and Nature Based Solutions to issues around livelihood insecurity and its interactions with climate change driven conflict
• support national or local government to understand the risks of, and respond to, climate change induced conflict and implement interventions in collaboration with local communities

Any intervention should take an approach that aims to:

1. Increase or stabilise the natural resource pool (to manage scarcity)

2. Improve benefit-sharing modalities (to enhance equity)

3. Improve governance/management (to reduce conflict)

4. Include a conflict management component. Opportunities for dialogue and peace-building activities should also be included. A conflict sensitivity analysis is essential.

5. Promote whole community approach. This will mitigate perceptions of bias, supports expectation management, and enables local ownership and empowerment in a more sustainable manner.

If the implementer considers additional sub-themes to be relevant, we would welcome new and innovative ideas where they align with policy objectives.

 Bidding guidance

We are looking to fund one project that addresses the core issues set out above. Projects will be funded for three Financial Years between October 2022 to March 2025 (Financial Year (FY) : April to March). Successful implementers must receive project funding in GBP. The funding will be available as Official Development Assistance.

The first FY (October 2022 – March 2023) should not exceed a budgeted amount of £200,000 GBP (two hundred thousand pounds sterling) with flexibility to scale up activities and budget in FY2 and FY3 to around £500,000 per financial year. Proposals should not be crafted to reach the budget ceiling, but to specifically meet the objectives in pursuit of demonstrable impact and value for money.

Each project will be subject to annual break clauses in March each year.

Bids should not exceed 30 pages and should be in English. We welcome bids from national and international civil society organisations, and multilateral partners and agencies. Joint bids from consortia with one lead partner will be considered.

 Process

Proposals must be submitted using the forms listed in the documentation section.

Bidders must submit documents in standard Microsoft Office formats, Arial, size 11.

The selected bidder/s will undergo a Due Diligence Assessment.

The team seeks to finalise grant agreements with successful project implementers by mid-October. Our maximum capacity for an incoming email is 10MB. Emails larger than 10MB are blocked.

 Assessment

This is a competitive process and the following criteria will be used to assess each proposal:

• alignment with the above mentioned thematic priorities and policy
• project design that demonstrates the ability to deliver outputs
• evidence of sustainability and continuation of benefits after the funding ends
• evidence that a gender responsive approach will be taken and that this is mainstreamed through the project
• alignment with the Paris Agreement, demonstrating that climate and environmental risk have been considered and no harm will be done
• evidence of ability to be flexible to current context and adapt
• suitable monitoring, evaluation and learning processes
• risk identification and management
• stakeholder and beneficiary identification
• budget that outlines sufficient details and overall value for money and aligns with the guidance activity-based budget template

 Essential skills and competencies of the implementer

The implementer will have:

• experience and familiarity of conflict sensitive and environmental programming
• strong operational experience of working in Sri Lanka
• the ability to source appropriate expertise to support any capacity building and advocacy components, both in-country and if necessary, from outside
• project and budget management skills
• demonstrations of creating innovative and scalable solutions.
• strong monitoring and evaluation capability
• excellent track record of completion of tasks according to timelines
• appropriate cyber security controls to protect participants, the organisation and U.K. funding
• robust approaches to risk management, conflict sensitivity, gender equality, and safeguarding policies and implementation plans in place that ensure the protection of beneficiaries and to safeguard against sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH)
• the project must be in line with UK equalities legislation, including International Development (Gender Equality Act) and Public Sector Equality Duty

 Documentation

You must include the following documents with your submission:

• project proposal form for projects above £10,000: template
• budget template. You can also read proposal guidance
• NPAC template (guidance included)
• one pager detailing the implementer’s experience working in this field and track record
• complete a separate equipment purchase supporting letter if the purchase of assets is essential for achieving the project outputs and impact
• digital development costs in excess of £10,000 for “any external-facing service provided through the internet to citizens, businesses, and civil society or non-government organisations” has to be submitted separately using the digital spend proposal form and be approved by FCDO
• interventions in the Security and Justice Sector must be assessed and approved in line with Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) guidance before a programme or project is approved, and before a Grant Agreement, MoU or Contract is signed. OSJA’s consider the human rights (HR) and international humanitarian law (IHL) risks of programmatic activity which might support HR or IHL violations in the host country. Any funding to these types of activities, while meeting HMG’s national security priorities, must also be consistent with UK values, defending and promoting human rights and democracy
• You can also read value for money guidance

 Additional information

The FCDO is moving away from using a flat NPAC rate. Read further guidance. However, for the majority of projects, admin costs are unlikely to exceed 10% of the total project budget, but 10% is not a target or a cap. There will be circumstances where admin costs over 10% may still represent value for money and we will review these costs during the review process. Applicants are expected to pass on their NPAC rates to second-tier partners, or use a rate of 10%. This should be added together for all second-tier partners and included as a line in the budget.

The Suppliers are free to choose who they partner with and where they wish to work in order to deliver the best outcomes.

Only one Supplier will be selected for this project using the evaluation, but the supplier may wish to form a consortium bid.

The selected Supplier will be expected to work constructively with Sri Lankan government and other stakeholders in order to achieve the objectives of this project.

All successful implementers will sign a standard FCDO grant agreement. The terms of the contract or agreement are not negotiable.

Projects should aim to achieve 85% spend by 31 December 2022 and activities should be avoided in the final month of the project; however, we recognise this may not be possible with a short implementation period. Activity Based Budgets should reflect this where possible.

For further queries, please contact colombo.general@fcdo.gov.uk

About CSSF

The Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) is a unique cross-government fund that tackles conflict, stability and security challenges overseas, which pose the greatest threat to UK national security.

Since its inception in 2015, CSSF programmes have addressed threats arising through conflict, serious and organised crime, terrorism and violent extremism in more than 85 countries and territories.  It has been a catalyst for a more integrated UK government response to fragility and conflict, including delivering our commitments under UK national action plan on women, peace and security (WPS) 2018 – 2022, and the Integrated Review.

The CSSF Sri Lanka programme works to address the legacy of conflict from the civil war and reduce existing and future drivers of conflict in the country. The Integrated Review positioned climate change and biodiversity loss as the number one international priority for Her Majesty’s Government due to the impacts on global resilience.

British High Commission in Colombo commissioned a ‘climate and conflict scoping study’ through the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) Sri Lanka back in 2020. The study identified that climate change is fuelling conflict and instability in Sri Lanka and this is likely to increase. It also explores interventions that the UK Government could implement to help mitigate the conflicts – drawing on desk and field research with diverse stakeholders. See summary of report.