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Last week, Copa-Cogeca together with the UECBV and APCPR organised a meeting in Bucharest aimed at increasing awareness and sharing good practices on biosecurity among European pigmeat farmers. As one of the countries that is most severely affected by African Swine Fever (ASF), Romania was the ideal place to host this first event, which marked the launch of a series of conferences. The next meetings will take place in Poland (Warsaw, January 14th ) and Germany ( Munster, February 6th).
The conference also served as a reminder that African Swine Fever is a pan-European problem which requires a strong, coordinated response. Besides concrete measures and regulations to ensure enhanced biosecurity on pig farms, one of the key focuses of the discussion was on how to ensure continued awareness in the farming community during and after epidemics.
Antonio Tavares, Chairman of Copa-Cogeca’s Pigmeat Working Party, underlined: “African Swine Fever is not a problem specific to Romania and the other affected countries; rather, it is a problem for all European pig farmers. Biosecurity measures are essential to controlling and fighting the disease. However, these must go well beyond simple physical structures. Above all, farmers and those working on holdings need to fully understand how to correctly implement the necessary measures. While the role of the Commission and the Member States in eradicating the disease is crucial, without the involvement of producers, such measures will not succeed. It is therefore up to producers to fight for the eradication of ASF with the support of the institutions.”
Friday November 23, 2018/ Copa-Cogeca/European Union.
https://copa-cogeca.eu
