HAMBURG (Reuters) – Britain has ended a ban on imports of German livestock and animal products imposed after a case of foot-and-mouth disease in Germany in January, Berlin’s agriculture ministry said on Monday.
Exports of livestock and animal products to Britain and Northern Ireland are expected to resume this week, it added.
Germany said on March 12 it had regained its status as free of foot-and-mouth disease in most areas, opening the way for the removal of export restrictions on meat and dairy products.
Germany announced its first outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in nearly 40 years on January 10 in a herd of water buffalo on the outskirts of Berlin, in the Brandenburg region.
But the outbreak remains confined to one case, with no others reported since, although the source is still unknown. Many domestic restrictions have already been lifted.
Measures to contain the highly infectious disease, which poses no danger to humans, often involve bans on imports of meat and dairy products from affected countries. Britain, South Korea and Mexico were among states imposing import bans on Germany.
The British ban has caused pain to Germany’s meat industry, while some Chinese restrictions were ended earlier in March.
The European Union allowed German meat and dairy exports from regions outside the area around the case to continue.
“It is great news that the United Kingdom is so quickly recognising our successful efforts and commitment in the fight against foot-and-mouth disease and lifting its far-reaching import restrictions,” German Agriculture Minister Cem Oezdemir said in a statement.
“This is good for our agricultural and food industries, especially for our livestock farms. This means that the most important export market outside the EU is once again open to them for our excellent products from Germany.”
Foot-and-mouth disease causes mouth blisters in cloven-hoofed ruminants such as cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, and in past decades needed major slaughtering campaigns to eradicate.
(Reporting by Michael Hogan; editing by Kevin Liffey and Mark Heinrich)
