5.6kg of pork products made in Russia were seized, a country currently hit by outbreaks African swine fever (ASF)this Sunday (4).
The confiscation took place at the international airport of Rio de Janeiro (Galeão), z Federal Agricultural Tax Inspector of the International Agricultural Inspection Service (Vigiagro).
Salamis, sausages and other pork products were found in the luggage of passengers arriving from Russia.
Since the global alert on the risk of the disease returning was issued in July last year, when ASF outbreaks were detected in the Dominican Republic, Brazil has taken precautions to avoid contaminating its pig herds as well as other countries.
African swine fever
O Association of Federal Tax Auditors for Agriculture (Anffa Sindical) reiterates that passengers from countries with outbreaks of diseases and pests of agricultural interest should always be considered targets of agricultural surveillance.
“Investing in intelligence and tools to improve target selection is essential to protect Brazilian agricultural production,” said Janus Pablo, President of Anffa.
The disease that affects only pigsis a contagious viral disease that has no cure or treatment and can decimate herds.
If PSA enters the country, Embrapa estimates it could result in about $5.5 billion in losses in the first year alone.
For this reason, Brazil, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), has set up task forces to prevent the disease from entering Brazilian territory, which can result from a tiny piece of pork meat derivatives contaminated other countries.
Brazil is now the fourth largest producer and exporter of pork in the world.
