November 1, 2021

European Commission reclassifies restriction zones in Germany due to no further ASF outbreaks

The European Commission has recently reclassified the German districts of Spree-Neisse and Märkisch-Oderland — which were listed as restricted zones III — as restricted zones II.

The classification was made as there have been no further outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) on pig farms in these areas during the last three months.

The change was announced in the Official Journal of the European Union (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1850). There are a total of eight commercial pig farms with a total of 31,500 pigs in restricted zones III.

In the state of Brandenburg, ASF was detected for the first time on pig farms on July 15 and July 1 this year, with one affected farm in Spree-Neisse and two in Märkisch-Oderland.

According to EU regulation 2021/605, in the case of ASF detection, a protection zone (radius of three kilometers) and a surveillance zone (radius of ten kilometers), must be established around the farms in restricted zone III. Under certain conditions, live animals may be removed from the restricted zones for slaughter.

"Together with the federal government, the state of Brandenburg has succeeded in reducing the period for the lifting of restricted zone III from twelve months to three months," said Brandenburg State Secretary Michael Ranft. "This decision from the EU Commission facilitates the sale of pork and the purchase of pigs in slaughterhouses again."

- MSGIV (Germany)