The latest report concerns the outcome of a mission which the FVO carried out in Croatia from 20 to 24 September 2010 in order to assess the animal health situation regarding classical swine fever (CSF) and disease control measures, with a view to the possible authorisation of imports into the EU of live pigs and certain pig products from Croatia.

The outcome of the mission was that Croatia has a broadly effective animal health control system in place. This is on account of the veterinary presence on the ground, the relevant EU legislation transposed in the framework of the 'Acquis Communautaire' transposition for Candidate Countries, the existence of a complex but operational identification and registration system for pigs and pig farms as well as for pig movements and the implementation of active and passive surveillance programmes for CSF.

However, the mission team identified some weaknesses in the system, such as some inadequate assessment of compliance with biosecurity standards in pig farms and the existence of small scale pig markets without restrictions to their catchment areas.

In addition, in spite of in depth investigations on the epidemiology and an extensive CSF surveillance programme, the presence of CSF virus in the wild boar population in some regions cannot be ruled out completely. In spite of this situation, acknowledged by the 'Competent Authority' (CA) in Croatia, there are no movement restrictions of domestic pigs from those regions towards the rest of the country.

The report includes recommendations to the CAs addressing areas in which further improvements are required.

Further Reading

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You can view the full report and response from the Croatian authorities by clicking here.

Further Reading

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Find out more information on swine fevers by clicking here.