ZAGREB, January 22, 2019 – Croatia is given a status of country free from Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) by the European Union, and therefore there are no more any limitation for transport and import of domestic and wild animals of the bovine species, the Croatian agriculture ministry stated on Tuesday.
“Croatia has officially become a country free from Lumpy Skin Disease, and it has no longer any restrictions on the trade of cattle and beef within the European Union,” reads the press release.
The decision to lift the restrictions on the trade of bovine animals from Croatia has been made by the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF Committee). The status of a country free from Lumpy Skin Diseases enters into force on Tuesday.
This is a result of a success of Croatia’s two-year bovine animal vaccination campaign, and the campaign ceased on 1 January 2018, for the purpose of acquiring the status of country free from LSD.
“In order to help this sector to recover, we have designed additional measures for the next three years, and to this end we have set aside 195 million kuna to help the breeding of 65,000 heifers,” Minister Tomislav Tolušić was quoted as saying. He thanked all stakeholders in the vaccination campaign and commended local beef cattle farmers for patience and cooperation.
The PAFF Committee is composed by representatives of all EU countries and presided by a European Commission representative.
The PAFF Committee’s mandate covers the entire food supply chain – from animal health issues on the farm to the product on the consumer’s table – helping the EU deal effectively with health risks at every stage of the production chain.
The PAFF Committee decided to remove the entire territory of Croatia from the list of areas “free with vaccination” regarding Lumpy Skin Disease given that vaccination against the disease has not been practised in Croatia since the beginning of 2018 and the results of Lumpy Skin Disease surveillance ever since demonstrated the absence of the disease.
More news on Croatia’s agriculture can be found in the Business section.
