2023-10-23 14:48:06
The agriculture ministers of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, three countries whose livestock are affected by bluetongue (blue tongue disease), pleaded Monday for the rapid development of a vaccine and, in the meantime, for more flexibility on export authorizations for their healthy cattle and sheep.
A strong resurgence of bluetongue affects more than 2,250 cattle and sheep farms in the Netherlands. Belgium and Germany have each identified a case on their territory, on farms close to the Dutch border, in Merksplas (north of the province of Antwerp) in the Belgian case.
The disease, which mainly affects sheep but can also affect cattle, goats and other wild ruminants, is transmitted by midge bites. It is not contagious to humans and presents no danger to them, but the loss of a country’s free status strongly limits trade in animals susceptible to the virus and intended for other Member States, recalls the FASFC ( Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain).
Beef exports at a standstill
Since no vaccine is currently registered in the European Union for serotype 3 of the disease, beef exports are at a standstill. Of course, Member States can authorize the entry of these animals under specific relaxations, but these relaxations vary from one Member State to another.
It is for these reasons that the ministers of the three countries appeared before the press on Monday, for a joint declaration on the sidelines of the Council of European Ministers of Agriculture, in Luxembourg. The Dutchman Piet Adema, the German Cem Özdemir and the Belgian David Clarinval called for the development of a vaccine as quickly as possible, through efforts on the European research budget and on the part of pharmaceutical companies.
A second request is addressed to the Commission, in order to obtain an export exemption for healthy animals, as well as to member countries, so that they show flexibility and agree to import live animals “in good safety conditions,” underlined Mr. Clarinval. “These are two important demands for our breeders and producers.”
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