Russia may ban import of breeding pigs from Denmark

//22 May 2012
Rosselkhoznadzor is considering a complete ban on the import of breeding pigs from Denmark, which currently is one of the main suppliers of such pigs in Russia, according to a recent interview of the press secretary of Rosselkhoznadzo, Alexei Alekseenko.
"We are considering the possibility of restricting the import of breeding pigs from Denmark. The background for this measure is the lack of control of the supply of these animals from the Veterinary Services of European Union,” said the official.

Since 20 March Rosselkhoznadzor, largely for the same reason introduced a temporary ban on the supply of live pigs from the EU, including those from Denmark. At the same time the ability of EU members to import breeding animals under the strengthened veterinary control still remains.

The reason for the ban on the import of breeding pigs from Denmark was due to Customs Union detaining three trucks transporting about 700 breeding pigs from Denmark to the Tambov region of Russia. As it turned out, more than 37 pigs died during transportation and their bodies were removed during transit parking in Poland. And the supplier has not notified the Veterinary Service of the Customs Union about this incident. In addition, Russian veterinary services have still not received the results of diagnostic studies of animal carcasses which are used to exclude high-risk disease.


According to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, Denmark is one of the main suppliers of breeding pigs in Russia. In 2010/11 about 9800 of Danish breeding pigs were imported, which represents 40.4% of the total import of breeding pigs to Russia. The ban already take place at the beginning of June.

(By Vladislav Vorotnikov)

Related website: Rosselhoznadzor