Poland bans import of meat from Belarus

• 25.06.2013, 16:16

Poland's chief veterinary officer has taken a decision to ban the import of meat from Belarus.

Information about detecting the genetic material of the African swine fever virus in Belarus appeared on the website of the Polish veterinary agency last Friday, June 21. The country's chief veterinary officer released a statement on June 22:

“After the information about an outbreak of ASF in Belarus was verified, it was decided to increase safety measures on border crossing in the counties bordering with Belarus. In particular, a decision was taken to impose a ban on carrying food of animal origin in hand baggage (food must be confiscated and destroyed if found), follow hygiene measures on transportation of animals, inform farmers and veterinarians about the disease, spread posters with information about requirements for food of animal origin and use disinfection mats.”

“I saw that one driver was asked to step on a mat in his shoes,” Belarusian Iryna, who was on the border on Saturday evening, told Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi newspaper. “They didn't ask us to do the same.”

It's difficult to say if Polish border guards strictly follow the instructions.

“We didn't see any mats. On the contrary, we noticed that the border control took less time than usually,” the newspaper learnt from drivers who visited Poland at the weekend.

The Food and Veterinary Service of Latvia urged Latvian pig farmers to be vigilant in connection with the ASF outbreak in Belarus. Earlier, Ukraine imposed a ban on imports of pigs and pork products due to the outbreak of African swine fever.