You're reading: Russia, Belarusia and Ukraine join to fight African swine fever

The head of Russia's Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight Service (Rosselkhoznadzor) and his counterparts from Belarus and Ukraine agreed on Thursday to join efforts to fight African swine fever (ASF).

It concerns the addition of documents similar to the EU directives for faster response to the current technical regulations of the Customs Union have been in place for a long time, Rosselkhoznadzor Chief Sergei Dankvert told Interfax by telephone. “We need a single legislation in this sphere in the Customs Union, a single set of rules on how to manage animals are needed,” he said. “The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) should administer all regulatory documents,” the officials said.

It is necessary to introduce legal identification of animals, Dankvert said. “This should be compulsory, it is necessary to strictly regulate the rules of salvage feed use because ASF can spread through it as well,” he said.

Representatives of Ukraine said they intended to also take these measures, Dankvert said.

Meeting participants representing Russia and Belarus said they would ask the EEC to hold a special meeting in September dedicated to ASF issue and measures to fight it.

Head of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Office for Eastern Europe, Kazimieras Lukauskas; the head of the OIE regional committee for Europe, First Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine Ivan Bisiuk, and Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Rusiy attended the meeting.