RI bans import of livestock from EU

RI bans import of livestock from EU

JAKARTA (Agencies): Indonesia has banned imports of livestock, meat and other animal products from Europe to prevent the spread of highly contagious foot and mouth disease, Director General for livestock development Sofyan Sudardjat said here on Wednesday.

"We have banned all imports of cattle, meat and animal products from all countries in Europe since late December," Sudardjat told Reuters.

But the ban was not publicly announced at that time.

Indonesia has been officially free of the disease since 1990.

The country had been importing small amounts of meat from Ireland, but that was stopped in December by the ban.

"Although imports from Ireland are very small, as a precaution, we decide to ban all imports from Europe, including from Ireland," Sudardjat said.

Indonesia imports cattle, meat and meat products mostly from Australia and New Zealand, as well as some from the United States.

In a related development, the U.S. government said on Tuesday it would scrub the shoes of American travelers returning from the European countryside to prevent the financially devastating foot- and-mouth disease from hitchhiking into the United States.

The government also banned all imports of live animals and raw meat products from the European Union after the disease surfaced at a cattle farm in France.

Washington took the actions to prevent the spread of foot-and- mouth disease, a virus that cripples cattle, pigs, goats, sheep and deer and is so infectious because it can be spread by gusty winds or truck tires.

All EU meat products shipped to the United States since Feb. 21 will be quarantined and inspected.

"All EU products are put on hold," said Kevin Herglotz, a U.S. Agriculture Department spokesman. "Any shipment en route to the United States since around Feb. 21 would be held for inspection."

The USDA urged American tourists bound for Britain to avoid visiting farms, zoos or other animal facilities for five days prior to returning. Any soiled shoes, luggage, cameras, laptops or cellphones should be disinfected with a water and bleach solution, the government said.

Travelers arriving at 110 U.S. ports of entry will be asked by U.S. Customs if they visited a farm while in Europe. If so, they will undergo a disinfection procedure, the USDA said.

Elsewhere, Canada's Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief said on Tuesday the country is extending a ban on all agricultural imports to cover the entire 15-nation European Union.

The ban -- which includes livestock, farm products and even used farm equipment -- was previously limited to Britain following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in that country.

The highly contagious disease jumped from Britain into France, despite farm travel restrictions, disinfection procedures, and other extraordinary precautions.

On Tuesday, France reported its first case of foot-and-mouth disease since 1981 in a herd of 114 cattle in a northwest province. Separately, Argentina confirmed an outbreak in its central Buenos Aires province and Colombia said it detected its first cases of the disease this year.