Animal products’ imports by consumers from Moldova and Ukraine will be banned in order to prevent the African swine fever (ASF) enter Romania, said on Friday the Agriculture minister, Achim Irimescu in western Timișoara.
“I’ve informed the President and the Prime Minister, too. The moment it would enter Romania (the African swine fever — author’s note) all pigs in the said area should be sacrificed. Losses would be unmeasurable, hard to estimate now. I know from the EU member states, the Baltic states, Poland which have had huge losses,” said the Agriculture minister.
He told the media that the ASF is an extremely dangerous illness with no vaccine yet, and the moment it would enter the country damage will be immense.
Achim Irimescu pointed out that the prevention measures firstly aim at halting the animal products’ from the two mentioned countries enter Romania, as well as the control upon the wild boars’ migration in the border area with the two states.
The possibility for the African swine fever traced in Moldova to extend to Romania was the topic of a meeting this Tuesday, 27 September, at the Agriculture Committee with the Chamber of Deputies, at the initiative of its Chair, Liberal Nini Sapunaru, attended by the Agriculture minister and representatives of several bodies, among which the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA), structures of the Home Affairs (MAI), the Border Police. More…