Czech Republic and Poland call for EU support in battle against ASF

The Czech Republic and Poland held a videoconference on November 16 with the agriculture and fisheries council and request the European Commission to support coordinated efforts of Member States to combat African swine fever (ASF).

The countries expressed that a system of financial assistance to farms and processing companies should be introduced and the limitations in trade should be reduced to an absolute minimum.

To support the efforts of the Member States in combating ASF, the countries call for the following:

• Intensification of cooperation among the EU Member States to apply control measures against spread of the disease.
• Reduction in administrative burden associated with ASF control measures
  • Co-financing and reimbursement of the costs incurred on the part of the Member States
• Simplification of ASF diagnosis

They state that the "co-financing system of emergency measures done by the European Commission should be moderated as the Member States’ administrations must act under extreme pressure and without delay in very difficult conditions and standard steps, such as tendering procedures, cannot always be applied due to enormous risk of damage caused if not acting immediately."