Brussels, 24/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 23 July, Poland announced its first cases of swine fever in a pig farm located in the east of the country, near to the border with neighbouring Belarus.
The diseased animals have been destroyed and 37 farms in the region holding 192 pigs have been placed into quarantine. In the neighbouring Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania, cases of swine fever have also been announced and the authorities have taken steps to try to eradicate this disease, which is fatal to pigs but not dangerous to humans. Latvia decided on Tuesday to extend the quarantine area to the regions bordering Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania and Russia, and 185 pigs have so far been slaughtered.
In January of this year, Russia decreed an embargo on pig meat from the EU, following the discovery of the first cases of swine fever in Lithuania. Russia absorbs a quarter of European exports of pork products, mainly from the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, with a total annual value of €1.4 billion. In April, the Commission lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over this Russian ban on European pork. On Tuesday 22 July, the WTO decided to set up a panel of independent experts to rule on the dispute (see EUROPE 11126). (LC)