Ministry of Agriculture: unscheduled inspections began due to the spread of ASF

The Ministry of Agriculture said that the government and the ministry are constantly monitoring the issue of epizootic well-being in RUSSIA for ASF, it is discussed at meetings of the government's permanent anti-epizootic commission. The department stressed that, in accordance with the law, the basis for conducting an unscheduled inspection without the consent of the prosecutor's office may be the instructions of the president, the HEAD of the Cabinet, deputy prime ministers, as well as the prosecutor's request. Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko gave instructions to resume such inspections in connection with ASF. 

The Ministry of Agriculture also told Izvestia that the government had developed an action plan to improve the country's veterinary safety system. It included a set of measures to prevent the emergence and spread of contagious animal diseases. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has prepared indicators of the risk of violation of the requirements for registration of veterinary accompanying documents.

DIRECTOR General of the National Union of Pig Breeders (NSS) Yuri Kovalev said that the situation with ASF in Russia is tense, but is under full control. “The biggest outbreaks were in 2020. In 2021, there were half as many of them, in 2022 - several times less. Therefore, current checks are just preventive work,” he explained.

According to him, the problem of ASF is long-term, so it is wrong to hope for its rapid eradication. Kovalev noted that the government has developed measures to counter the spread of this disease. The expert added that the Ministry of Agriculture received the authority to create veterinary rules for pig breeding in private farms. In addition, a regulation will be enacted this year requiring animals to be labeled and accounted for. However, according to Kovalev, only through the implementation of all these measures will it be possible to control the spread of the disease.

In mid-April, the head of the Public Consumer Initiative, Oleg Pavlov, turned to the Ministry of Agriculture with a proposal to strengthen control measures in connection with ASF, Izvestia writes. He suggested resuming unscheduled inspections of a business that breeds and slaughters pigs. In addition, he considers it necessary to establish quarantine in areas within a radius of up to 120 km from detected ASF outbreaks and strengthen control over the execution of veterinary documents.

According to ROSSELKHOZNADZOR , there are now 30 active outbreaks of ASF in Russia. Of these, among domestic pigs - 16 cases of the disease, among wild boars - 14. From 2017 to 2023, 2.2 thousand outbreaks were recorded. In March, the agency reported that in European countries the epizootic situation with ASF looks much more serious than in Russia. So, in Poland from the beginning of the year to the end of March, 774 outbreaks of ASF were recorded, in Romania - 206 cases.