The EU expands the radius of restrictions due to African swine fever, but leaves out Lleida, Girona and Osona

Brussels / BarcelonaThe European Commission has expanded the radius of restrictions imposed due to the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in Catalonia, focusing on the area closest to the infection. However, it has excluded the provinces of Lleida and Girona, as well as the Osona and Segrià regions, key areas where a significant portion of the country's pig farming sector is concentrated. The decision was published this Thursday. Official Journal of the European Union After a European Commission delegation traveled to Catalonia on Wednesday and set limits on pork exports, the perimeter affected by the restrictions defines which areas can sell pork products to other parts of Spain and the European Union, impacting any regionalization that non-EU countries might implement. Sources from the European Commission explained to ARA that, although the decision is based solely on health factors, it directly indicates the list of territories with which the sector can trade. Thus, in the Barcelona area, farms in Osona and almost all of Bages will be able to continue selling to all member states of the European bloc. In fact, the exclusion zone does not include any municipalities in the Lleida and Girona areas, where there are also a high number of farms and other pork companies, nor the Tarragona region, where the sector has a smaller presence. The area delimited by the European Commission affects up to 91 Catalan municipalities and includes almost all of Baix Llobregat, Vallès Oriental and Occidental, Barcelonès, Maresme, and a small part of the Bages, Anoia, and Alt Penedès regions. In this way, Brussels has avoided including the entire province of Barcelona in the restrictions, which was one of the situations most feared by the Catalan pig farming sector, especially in Osona, or having it cover a large area, potentially affecting another region with a high concentration of pigs, such as Segrià.

Following Brussels' emergency decision this Thursday, the next step is for the EU's Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed to ratify or amend the European Commission's decision at its next meeting, scheduled for December 16 and 17. However, the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union mandates that the measures taken by the Commission must be implemented "immediately" in the affected area while awaiting the committee's final opinion. "Due to the urgency of the epidemiological situation [...] it is important that the control measures are applied as soon as possible," the legal text adds.

Affected Exports

In any case, it's worth remembering that the ban on exports to countries outside the European Union initially affected all farms in Catalonia and the entire country, without exception, when the epidemic was declared in Spain last week. Following the declaration, the Ministry of Agriculture has had to negotiate the regionalization of export bans on a country-by-country basis so that farms not located in areas affected by African swine fever can continue exporting.

The Spanish government is negotiating with several countries to which the Catalan and Spanish pork sector exports substantially. So far, countries like Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Chile, and Mexico have not reached regionalization agreements with Spain, and Spanish pork exports have had to be completely halted. In Mexico, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, He met this Thursday with the Secretary of Agriculture of the Mexican government to reduce restrictions.

However, China, the largest market for Catalan pork outside the EU, announced shortly after the outbreak was identified in Collserola that it would continue buying Spanish pork with the exception of that produced in the province of Barcelona. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Argentina, have maintained restrictions similar to those applied to sales within the European Union's single market; that is, they only exclude the entry of Spanish pork products that do not meet certain temperature and salting requirements, as well as those produced within the area affected by African swine fever (ASF). Brussels' expansion of this area will therefore affect sales to these countries.

According to data from the Catalan government, the Catalan pork sector exports approximately €3 billion annually, of which €1 billion are sales to countries outside the EU.

Few positive cases

For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, Òscar Ordeig, stated this Thursday that, for the moment, "the vast majority" of dead wild boars found in Collserola are testing negative for the virus. So far, the laboratory of the Animal Health Research Center (Cresa-Irta) has analyzed around fifty dead wild boars, of which nine were considered suspected cases of the disease and sent to the Central Veterinary Laboratory—the scientific body under the Ministry of Agriculture that officially declares positive cases—to confirm them.

Furthermore, Ordeig explained in an interview with 2Cas It is "almost certain" that African swine fever entered Catalonia through "human activity," most likely via biological remains from infected pigs. The Catalan government suggests that these remains could be food scraps or other debris (for example, blood or pieces of skin) that arrived in a vehicle, probably via the AP-7 highway. However, Ordeig added that it will still take some time to determine its exact origin, but he has already ruled out the possibility that the virus arrived via an infected wild boar. African swine fever is a disease caused by a virus that has a high mortality rate among wild boars, in addition to being highly contagious. However, the virus has no effect on the health of humans or any other animal species.