August 29 (SeeNews) - Romanian president Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday said that domestic farmers are headed to bankruptcy because the government handed poorly the recent outbreak of African swine fever (PPA).
"The current situation shows that the government is unable to manage the situation with the African swine fever, which has very serious consequences for the Romanian economy. Equally serious is the fact that the responsible authorities did not inform producers and the population, in a timely and effective manner, about the major risks of spreading the PPA [Pesta Porcina Africana] virus," Iohannis said in a press release issued by the presidential office.
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The president emphasised that there are major implications for the national economy because the PPA virus is jeopardising all commercial pig farms in Romania, which produce about half of the total pork for domestic consumption.
"African swine fever is raging among swine breeders, and large farms in the southeastern country are about to be virtually exterminated. There are already damages of tens of millions of euros, thousands of jobs lost, and the loss of important commercial opportunities for Romania," Iohannis went on to say.
Despite the European Commission's warnings, after the appearance of the virus in the Danube Delta, the measures provided for in the contingency plan were not taken to prevent the spread of the disease, Iohannis also said.
The government must also explain the reasons for eliminating obligatory sanitary inspections in households this spring, as the executive has been fully aware of the threat of African swine fever since the beginning of 2017, he aded.
At present, there are over 700 outbreaks of the disease in ten Romanian counties.