Romania: APCPR calls for urgent measures to control ASF
Romania is taking billions of dollars out of the national economy due to the exponential increase in pork imports since 2017, the year of the appearance of countless outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF).
The Association of Pork Producers of Romania (APCPR) calls on the authorities to adopt and implement urgent measures to control African swine fever (ASF).
Romania is dependent on pork imports in order to meet domestic demand, with the degree of coverage of consumption from domestic production decreasing from 70% in 2015-2016 to 45% in 2024 and the difference is maintained for the first quarter of 2025. Thus, pork is the most imported agri-food product in Romania in the last 10 years, the cause being the evolution of African swine fever (ASF) in domestic pigs and in the wild boars. In Romania, the first outbreaks of ASF in domestic pigs were reported on July 31, 2017 and, starting with June 11, 2018, it recorded a rapid evolution in domestic pigs in the SE region of the country and subsequently throughout Romania.
During 2017-2025, Romania recorded the highest number of ASF outbreaks in domestic pigs in Europe (over 7,000 outbreaks out of approx. 12,700 total outbreaks in the EU), which occurred predominantly in households, but also affected commercial farms, with a total of over 1.8 million pigs being killed nationally.
Pork imports have had a constant increase in the last ten years amid the decrease in the commercial sector's capacity to meet consumption needs due to the evolution of ASF and the existence of a parallel, untaxed market, supported by the pig herds in households. Media sources show that, in 2023, Romania imported pork worth 1.13 billion dollars, becoming the tenth largest pork importer (out of 219) worldwide. In the same year, pork was the 16th most imported product (out of 1,213) in Romania.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics communicated to the media, in the first 11 months of 2024, Romania imported pork worth 950.5 million euros, 28% more than in 2013, and the deficit with this category of products deepened to 947.2 million euros, being 28% higher than a year ago.
During the period 2013-2024, the strongest growth rate in terms of purchases was achieved by Romania (among the main importing countries, average annual growth rate of 7.7%). In terms of the value of imports, Romania recorded the highest growth rate in the EU (average annual growth rate of 11.2%).
In the aforementioned context, knowing the problem and the solutions, APCPR publicly request the Prime Minister of Romania, together with the responsible factors (ANSVSA, MADR and other authorities), to organize a meeting to adopt a plan of urgent measures to control African swine fever (ASF) and to restore the industry simultaneously with correcting the adverse effects on the trade balance deficit.
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