The outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) identified on three wild boars in Lower Piedmont and Liguria on 6.1.22 (1)-which was followed by the European Commission’s 10.1.22 decision (2)-unfortunately triggers, predictably, the first measures and bans on theexport of pork, hams and cured meats Made in Italy.
The Ministry of Health-through circulars 12.1.22 and 14.1.22 from Director General Massimo Casciello-announces the outcome of initial consultations with veterinary authorities of some trading partners and the European Commission. Regionalizing restrictive measures is still the high road, but we also need to look further.
1) African swine fever. Made in Italy cured meats, limits onexport.
1.1) Canada
Canada recognizes so-called regionalization-that is, the delimitation of precautionary measures to restricted areas only (under EU regs. 2016/429, 2018/1882, 2020/687, 2021/605)-under theCETA agreement.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has updated import conditions for pork and pork products arriving from Italy:
– cargoes en route or in customs with a certification date prior to 8.1.21 will be cleared through customs as customary,
– subsequent shipments must come with a supplementary health certificate.
1.2) Japan
Japan does not currently recognize the European regionalization system for PSA (outside of the one historically adopted for Sardinia). However, the Ministry of Health has ‘Acquired the willingness of the other party to engage in further discussions useful for the evaluations necessary for the possible signing of new sanitary requirements that would allow in the future the application of regionalization principles and/or the possibility of exporting products subjected to treatments capable of inactivating the ASF virus‘.
Pending developments-which theJEFTA agreement should theoretically favor-customs and transit shipments of pork products will only be able to be cleared through customs if the food was packaged by Dec. 13.21.
1.3) USA
US authorities recognize regionalization. Pork and pork products may then be exported with the health certificates referred to in paragraph 2 below.
1.4) China, Taiwan
The People’s Republic of China and Taiwan do not recognize any regionalization. Exports of Made in Italy pork products are therefore halted.
1.5) Serbia
Serbia in turn suspended the export of all pork products except heat-treated products (80°C on the whole product or Fo 3 heat-treated products packed in a hermetically sealed container).
1.6) Brazil
Brazil decided to adopt differentiated measures for various products arriving from Italy, distinguishing three categories:
1) pork and pork products of short maturation (<6 months), customs clearance only for cargoes en route or in customs with certification date before 5.1.22. However, imports from Italy of
(2) cooked products, ‘with heat treatment of at least 30 minutes at 70°C on all meat or higher heat treatment or equivalent capable of inactivating the ASF virus‘, and of
3) products cured for a minimum period of 6 months.
1.7) Cuba
Cuba does not recognize regionalization for PSA. Therefore, Cuban health authorities are shutting down-against African swine fever-the export of Italian cured meats, as well as meat and other pork products from Italy.
2) Health certifications for export
The generic health certificate can only be used for theexport of meat and pork products to third countries with which special health requirements have not been agreed upon. (3) Otherwise, health certificates can be amended with added reference to regionalization as per EU regulations, in line with the rules set by the OIE.
The attestation that the product comes from a supply chain in ‘Region/province/area/territory free of ASF’ where no restriction measures are taken for ASF-after verification of traceability and suitability (see next paragraph)-is therefore worth updating the health certificate with precise reference to regionalization.
3) Traceability and verification of eligibility for certification.
Verifications of the suitability of the product to be certified postulate examination of upstream traceability back to the herd from which the pigs sent to slaughter originate (ASI and Model 4). Certification may be issued to products that-during the period of the restriction measures-are not derived from:
– animals originating from herds located in infected areas or restricted areas related to African swine fever,
– carcasses slaughtered or meat processed in an establishment that also slaughters, processes or handles animals originating from a restricted area. (4)
4) Regionalization, scenario
The regionalization of restriction measures on animal products has enabled EU member states to safeguard their strategic supply chains against phenomena that was and still is possible to control through effective animal health policing. And it is to the credit of a great Italian veterinary doctor, Prof. Romano Marabelli, that he first developed in Italy and then shared internationally this approach, in Europe and worldwide (through the OIE).
Surveillance of wildlife movements in municipalities where the production areas of Italy’s major PDOs insist is crucial and is abstractly possible with wild boars. However, the risk of adverse events should not be underestimated, with a feral pig population that exceeds one million and is difficult, an understatement, to keep ‘under control’. As Germany tried to do, reporting its own cases only in 2020, two years after the African Swine Fever (ASF) from Poland reached Belgium. (5)
5) Perspectives
Prevention of the risk of PSA contamination of non-cooked pork products can already now be ensured through application of strict biosecurity protocols, by all operators involved in the supply chain, from feed to fork. Such protocols should come:
– developed, in ISO 22000 and PRP(Pre-Requisites Programs) logic, taking into account available best practices and standards,
– applied and recorded, at each relevant step, in an unchangeable and incorruptible computer system( publicblockchain),
– shared with veterinary authorities and initiated to voluntary standardization procedure (from UNI to CEN and ISO).
6) Interim Conclusions
The development of ‘bioprotected’ supply chains and their real-time transparency, with levels of data accessibility commensurate with stakeholder needs, now appears to be the missing piece to a system of public and private controls that is effective and yet has an unfortunately unavoidable margin of risk.
Pilot applications of the writer’s proposed system could lead to the opening of new negotiations. In the EU and OIE, but also in bilateral relations with third countries where public blockchain registration of food safety data is current or imminent. Like the U.S. and Japan, the first outlet markets for Made in Italy hams and cured meats.
Distinguish wild (wild) versus kept (domestic) porcine animal, isolate the supply chain from breeding, track each and every operation in an incorruptible computer system.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Dario Dongo. African swine fever, maximum alert in Italy. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 9.1.22, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/peste-suina-africana-massima-allerta-in-italia
(2) Dario Dongo. African swine fever in Italy, new EU measures in Piedmont and Liguria. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 11.1.22, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/sicurezza/peste-suina-africana-in-italia-nuove-misure-ue-in-piemonte-e-liguria
(3) NB: the oval health stamp in any case cannot be applied to products derived from carcasses that come from or have been processed in restricted areas, the circulation of which is prohibited outside the same areas (as has already been the case in Sardinia since 1978)
(4) Restricted areas can be checked on the most up-to-date publications at the national level-Ministry of Health, DGSAF (Directorate General of Animal Safety and Veterinary Drugs)-and European level. National verification is always recommended, as the update on Europa-Lex of the consolidated version of reg. EU 2021/605 (see Parts I, II, III and All. I) is not always timely
(5) Dario Dongo, Carmela Mele, Alfonso Piscopo. African swine fever, high alert also in Europe. Insight. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 17.10.20, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/peste-suina-africana-allerta-massima-anche-in-europa-approfondimento
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
