Brussels, 08/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Polish veterinary authorities announced on Monday that they had decreed a ban on the import of pigs and pig meat from 26 European countries, due to the risk of the propagation of swine fever. These measures affect the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. A similar ban is already in place in Poland for pork imported from Germany, Spain and Slovakia, following the discovery in these countries of 6 outbreaks of swine fever.
The ban, which took effect on 5 August at midnight, concerns all pork or boar-based products that have not been subject to heat treatment at a temperature over 72 degrees C, according to a press release from Poland's chief veterinary officer, Andrzej Komorowski, who justifies these measures by the "crisis engendered by floods in Poland and a serious disorganisation of public life that followed, causing risks of propagation of infectious animal diseases, notably swine fever.