The German Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday, the 15th of January, that it expects exports of meat and dairy products to the European Union (EU) to continue, despite the confirmation last week of a case of foot-and-mouth disease affecting livestock, reports Reuters.
German authorities on Friday confirmed the country’s first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years in a water buffalo herd on the outskirts of Berlin in the Brandenburg region.
Germany said on Tuesday it had detected no new cases after intensive checks around the area of the first foot-and-mouth case.
Foot-and-mouth disease affects animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats and has required widespread culling in recent decades to fight it.
Import bans on meat and dairy products from affected countries are often imposed to limit the spread of this highly infectious disease, which poses no threat to humans, and this week the UK, South Korea and Mexico are among the countries that have imposed import bans on Germany.
The German government warned that one case of the disease could halt exports of meat and dairy products outside the EU.
But the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Wednesday the EU Commission’s decision that Germany’s action in imposing quarantine zones of around ten kilometres around the farm where the outbreak was detected was sufficient to allow the application of the “rationalisation” trade principle, which limits trade restrictions to the affected region and not the whole country.
German Agriculture Minister Cem Oezdemir said: “After last week’s news, Brussels’ decision is a ray of light for farmers.”
“The Commission has not extended the quarantine zone in Brandenburg. Meat and dairy products produced outside the quarantine zone can still be sold in the EU.”
German meat exports, mainly pork, have been concentrating on the EU market after many countries banned imports following the discovery of swine fever in 2020.
Germany to continue meat and dairy exports to EU after foot-and-mouth case
