BELGRADE (Serbia), August 26 (SeeNews) – Serbia can expect to start exports of live pigs and pork meat to the European Union in three to four years, once vaccination against classical swine fever is no longer required in the EU-aspiring country, the head of the local Veterinary Board said.
Zoran Micovic told Serbian news agency Beta that a decision to halt vaccination against classical swine fever, expected at the end of 2009, will be reached in cooperation with the EU. Serbia signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, the first formal step towards membership, earlier this year.
In 2006, the European Union banned imports of livestock and animal products from Serbia, the veterinary board told SeeNews in a written statement. The ban is aimed at preventing the sales of live pigs and thermally unprocessed pig products from Serbia to the bloc.
Serbia currently can export pigs to neighbouring Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, none of which is a EU member.
Micovic also said that about four million pigs have been vaccinated against swine fever in Serbia since the beginning of this year.
“There hasn’t been a resurgence of the disease in the past 10 months, it hasn’t been reported for 30 years in Serbia,” he said.
The disease has been eradicated in all EU countries, except Romania and Bulgaria, the board said in a written statement. To qualify for exporting pigs and pork to the EU, Serbia should ensure that no outbreaks of the disease take place for a year after vaccinations against it cease.
Classical swine fever is a highly contagious viral disease of swine (pigs and wild boar) which can spread via trade in live pigs, fresh pig meat and certain meat-based products. Although the disease is harmless for humans it can spread rapidly through a pig population, killing off piglets. The main cause of classical swine fever is attributed to illegal and unsupervised trade in live pigs, now suppressed by stronger enforcement measures.
Micovic said that Serbia’s first central laboratory for sanitary and veterinary control and food safety is slated to open in the middle of 2009. The EU-financed laboratory estimated to cost around five million euro ($7.3 million) will supervise the work of all regional veterinary laboratories in Serbia.
($ = 0.6859 euro)
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