Brussels, 10/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (of Member States' veterinary experts) decided last week to step up measures against swine fever in Germany and Luxembourg and to ease measures in France and Spain. The areas from where the export of live pigs and porcine semen, ova and embryos is banned has been extended to whole of Luxembourg due to new outbreaks and to North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany where new cases have also been discovered. The situation in France has improved so the Committee decided to reduce the ban to the parts of the départements of Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle close to the Luxembourg border. No new cases have been discovered in Spain recently so bans now only apply to the comarca of Osona, compared previously to the whole province of Barcelona and three comarcas in the province of Gerona. The situation will be reviewed at the next Committee meeting scheduled for 2/3 July.