August 9, 2012

Germany restricts Russia, Ukraine pork imports

Meat, sausages, bacon and other pork products from Russia and Ukraine are banned in Germany by the county's Ministry of Agriculture.

This is due to the outbreak of African swine fever in these countries, Deutsche Welle reported.

Germany and the EU had previously taken steps to prevent the penetration of ASF to the EU; import of live pigs and pork is forbidden; control was toughened on the borders, experts say, noting, however, the infectious agent may be brought with food.

A few days before it became known that a temporary ban on the import of pork from Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region was imposed by Russia and Belarus, Lithuania and Moldova banned the import of meat from the entire territory of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, German experts noted that African swine fever had penetrated into the territory of Ukraine from Russia.

For a man, the disease is harmless, but it is deadly to pigs - they have a fever, cough, and their skin begins turning blue. Nine out of 10 infected pigs die from the disease.