World meat industry news

The Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has imposed a temporary ban on imports of live pigs and pork from Belarus after the detection of African Swine Fever virus (ASF) in products.

Rosselkhoznadzor said it was forced to introduce restrictive measures for Belarusian imports after the FGBU's "Bryansk Interregional Veterinary Laboratory" and the Federal Center for Animal Health found the genome of the ASF virus in the samples of finished meat products belonging to the Belarusian enterprise "Gomel meat-packing plant" (Republic of Belarus, Gomel, Ilyich str., 2) and in sausages "Krakovskie" and sausage boiled "Garlic Smack".

The Russian agency also stressed that on March 5 they sent a letter demanding to clarify the epizootic state in the country, but they did not receive a response from the national veterinary service. Belarusian authorities, in turn, noted that there were no outbreaks of the disease in the country.

The press secretary from Rosselkhoznadzor Yulia Melano said in a statement that the Russian department believes that in Belarus there is a large-scale spread of the ASF disease.

The Russian authorities said that these restrictions will remain into place until the epizootic situation in the Republic of Belarus is clarified, negotiations and implementation of regionalization by the veterinary service of the Republic of Belarus.