African Swine Fever: Greece bans imports of pork from Bulgaria
Greece has banned imports of pork from Bulgaria, Minister of Agriculture Dessislava Taneva told the National Assembly on July 26 in a briefing on the African Swine Fever situation.
Taneva said that checks at the Bulgarian-Greek border would be stepped up and on entering Greece, the luggage of all visitors would be checked for banned meat products.
A day earlier, the regional administration in Kurdzhali said that at the Makaza crossing point from Bulgaria into Greece, vehicle disinfection points had been set up to prevent the spread of African Swine Fever.
As of July 25, there have been 21 outbreaks of African Swine Fever in Bulgaria, according to the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency.
Taneva told Parliament that there was no alternative to killing all animals when African Swine Fever was diagnosed.
She said that in dealing with the disease “we will carry out a proper analysis of where the gaps are and how we can improve co-ordination, activities and actions to be faster and wherever necessary, I guarantee that I will also undertake organizational and staff changes..”
The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis has expressed great disappointment with the Bulgarian authorities regarding their actions in relation to African Swine Fever, Bulgarian National Radio reported on July 25.
Andriukaitis urged Bulgaria to take action so that the country did not lose all its pigs. In Bulgaria, pig meat accounts for more than 80 per cent of all meat consumed.
(Photo: Juan Carlos Garavito/freeimages.com)
