Agriculture, Legislation, Lithuania, Markets and Companies

The VMVT has allowed to consume or sell the meat.

Director of the VMVT Jonas Milius says that the decision to expand the territory where small farms are prohibited to keep pigs was made after assessing and analysing all cases of ASF outbreak registered this year.

"Experience of every country combating ASF, including our own experience, proves that the human factor and farms that disregard biological safety measures pose the greatest risk allowing the disease to spread. It has become especially clear once the causes of ASF outbreak in small farms in Ignalina, Rokiskis and Utena districts were determined, even though some of them complied with bio-safety requirements. On the other hand, when similar measures were implemented in South-Eastern Lithuania, ASF spread in pig farms of this particular region was avoided. Ultimately, all hotbeds of the disease were determined in territories where it was not banned to keep one or two pigs," said Milius.

As of now the buffer zone extends through 16 of 60 municipalities, however, in some cases it includes only certain parishes and not entire municipalities.