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.