Fearing the spread of highly contagious animal diseases, Ukrainian officials place temporary ban on the import of agricultural products from its western neighbors
s has temporarily banned importing agricultural products from Europe, fearing the spread of a foot-and-mouth epidemic currently plaguing Western Europe, Ukraine’s chief vet said Tuesday.
The ban was put in place “To temporarily stop imports of all agricultural production,” Ukraine’s chief veterinary inspector Petro Verbytsky told Ukrainian News, citing last week’s decision by the commission.
“It may not be in accord with trade policy, but it is justified,” he added.
Verbytsky indicated that the ban would be lifted as soon as the foot-and-mouth situation stabilizes in Great Britain.
He also said that the virus that appeared in England recently has already penetrated France and the Netherlands due to livestock imports from England.
Ukraine has recently toughened measures to prevent foot-and-mouth disease from spreading to Ukraine’s domestic market.
The veterinary service has also taken preventive measures against mad cow disease, or BSE, one of the most dangerous diseases affecting cattle.
The measures included a ban on imports of beef products from 16 countries in Europe where cases of BSE have been registered, as well as a ban on imports of any products containing beef protein.
According to the State Statistics Committee, around $105 million worth of livestock products were imported into Ukraine last year. This was 50 percent less than in 1999.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s veterinary service is asking the Cabinet of Ministers to provide an additional Hr 8 million to purchase 4 million doses of vaccines against the foot-and-mouth disease and 2,000 tons of caustic soda for creating a reserve of medicaments in the case of a foot-and-mouth epidemic, according to Verbytsky.
Verbytsky told Ukrainian News that the probability of foot-and-mouth disease spreading to Ukraine is very high and that the veterinary service has decided to start vaccinating livestock in the border regions of the country with the goal of creating a buffer zone should the current infection zone begin nearing Ukraine’s borders.
According to official information, Ukraine is currently free of foot-and-mouth disease and livestock have not been vaccinated against it since 1992.
The most recent case of the foot-and-mouth disease was registered in Ukraine in the Kherson region in 1989.
