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Belgian Regains African Swine Fever-Free Status
30.11.2020 15:10 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
Following are selected highlights from a report issued by a U. S. Department of Agriculture attache in The Brussels USEU, on November 20, 2020, the European Commission (EC) recognized that Belgium succeeded in eradicating African Swing Fever (ASF) from its territory, lifting all restrictions on Belgian pork. This measure comes one year after the last case was found and restores Belgium’s ASF-free status, which is critical for its pork exports. Belgium is only the second EU Member State (MS) to be declared ASFfree, after the Czech Republic in 2019, while eleven MS are struggling with the disease. Belgian pork producers and exporters will breathe a sigh of relief as this EC decision sets the state for reopening overseas markets, especially to China and other Asian countries. Belgian pork producers lost all overseas exports after ASF was discovered in while boar in the south of the country in September 2018, even as no domestic swine were infected by the virus and Belgium’s swine production is concentrated on the opposite side of the country. Upon the discover of ASF, the Belgian Food Safety Agency (FAVV-AFSCA) acted quickly, putting a protection plan in place and culling all 4,000 domestic pigs within the protection zone in order to safeguard commercial production. Nevertheless, the loss of extra-EU markets inflicted severe economic damage to the heavily export depended Belgian pork production, as it could only export within the EU at a significant discount. The arrival of the COVID-19 crisis made things worse, as domestic consumption also dropped and live swine exports to Germany suffered from the COVID-19 outbreaks in the German slaughter sector. When ASF was found in Germany in September 2020, Belgian pork exporters also lost their major intraEU export market, as Germany was facing export bans for its own pork.
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