Commission Midday Express, 7 December 2011
At the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health yesterday in Brussels, the Member States have unanimously given their go ahead to a draft Decision tabled by the Commission that will authorize trade of Romanian pig meat to other EU Member States. This is the first time that Romania is authorised after its accession because of the classical swine fever situation that has however largely improved in the last years.
Trade will be possible from a "channelled system" developed in Romania including selected pig farms, slaughterhouses and establishments that provide all necessary guarantees concerning bio security, hygiene and surveillance for classical swine fever. Animal health experts from all the 27 EU member states agreed in Brussels on Tuesday on the adaptation of the measures against classical swine fever (CSF) in Romania to the improved situation aiming to restrictively allow the dispatch to other Member States of certain fresh pig meat and meat preparations and meat products consisting of or containing such meat from pigs kept in selected holdings in Romania.
Last classical swine outbreak in Romania was detected in 2007 and since the adoption of Decision 2008/855/EC that lays down control measures and derogations applicable in particular to the movement of pigs and dispatch of pig meat from certain areas of some Member States, including Romania which is not yet free from CSF, the epidemiological situation has significantly improved. During 2011, in view of this favourable situation Romania has developed a strategy based on a "channelled system" that would allow fresh pig meat and pig meat products from certain designated farms operating a common enhanced bio-security management system and only through selected slaughterhouses and meat establishments. This system has been fine-tuned during the last months and finally Romania has substantiated the favourable situation and the reliability of the "channelled system".
For more information please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/controlmeasures/csf_en.htm