COV cooperates with China on ASF

The COV has made certain agreements with its sister organisation CMA to be able to continue exporting pig meat in the event of an unexpected outbreak of African swine fever. In addition, efforts have been made to regionalise the control of any outbreak among feral pigs in order to prevent trade barriers where possible.

Jos Goebbels: "'It is crucial for the Dutch pork chain that we have and maintain good contacts and also work with our Chinese partners on the African swine fever dossier. The exchange of information, the fight against the virus and the development of a vaccine are of great importance in terms of content. China is our largest market outside the EU and we need it for our sustainable production and safe sales".

The aim is to prevent an outbreak of ASF from leading to direct restrictions in the trade in pork and pork products. They combine two OIE standards. On the one hand, regionalisation in control, so that safe regions are not unnecessarily affected. On the other hand, it is important to distinguish between (professionally) kept pigs and wild boars.