Food safety

Bulgaria will receive € 2.9 million in financial assistance from the European Union to fight African Swine Fever. This became clear after a meeting between Bulgaria's Minister of Agriculture Dessislava Taneva and EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis on August 6, reports BNT. 

The three industrial pig farms in Bulgaria's Rousse district where outbreaks of African Swine Fever were registered are awaiting 1.5 million BGN in compensation for the burial of culled animals and disinfection of the sites, reports BNT.

The amount was specified in a public procurement tender called by the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency. The contractors were selected by negotiations.

Farmers from Pazardzhik protest in the center of the regional town, disagreeing with the imposed voluntary slaughter of pigs in the "back yard".

Today was the deadline for most of the districts in the country to slaughter the pigs in private farms.

Culling the pigs infected with African swine fever is the only way to contain the situation in Bulgaria, said Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis.

EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis is deeply disappointed by the Bulgarian authorities for their actions in relation to African swine fever.

Agriculture Minister Petre Daea considers that the future European animal health law, which will come into force in April 2021, will create new possibilities to adjust the fight against communicable diseases in animals and humans, playing also an important role in providing new and modern tools in the prevention and control of these diseases.

Bulgarian institutions continue to use unprotected websites. Some of them offer electronic reports and services, making them vulnerable.

According to statistics for unprotected sites in 2014 were half of all, and now without certificate are only 10%. Unfortunately, a number of Bulgarian institutions fall into this column.

Sofia. The measures taken by the Bulgarian authorities on the outbreaks of ovine rinderpest are strictly in line with the European Commission's recommendations and procedures, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis told Bulgarian reporters, Focus News Agency reports.

Serbian Trade Minister Rasim Ljajic and Macedonian Agriculture Minister Ljupco Nikolovski will meet in Skoplje on Wednesday to discuss how to resolve an ongoing row over Serbian flour imports, the trade ministry in Belgrade confirmed to BIRN.

Previously Serbia had said it would impose counter-measures on Macedonia after Skopje adopted new procedures for imports of Serbian flour.

The European Commission proposal for phosphate additive in the doners was adopted, the EP press service announced.

On Tuesday, the draft report against the use of phosphate supplements in the meat for the doner meat was not adopted with the necessary absolute majority of 376 MEPs, although it received the approval of MEPs in the health commission.