European Union Halts Namibian Beef Imports Following Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak

The European Union, the primary destination for Namibian beef exports, has announced a suspension of imports following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, a pathogen that previously caused widespread devastation across the continent 25 years ago.

Namibia declared its first foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in its main commercial livestock zone in six decades last month. The discovery prompted an immediate nationwide ban on livestock movement and meat exports.

“The EU has decided to temporarily suspend the entry into its territory of fresh meat of cattle, sheep and goats…,” the EU delegation stated in a formal announcement.

The restriction covers meat from relevant farmed and wild hooved animals, as well as certain processed meat products. However, the delegation clarified that processed meat subjected to “the most severe risk-mitigating treatment” remains eligible for entry.

Brussels is Namibia’s dominant beef market, absorbing more than 80 percent of the country’s beef exports. Approximately 10 million kilograms of Namibian beef reached Europe annually, EU ambassador Ana Beatriz Martins told Namibian media outlet NMH.

Spreading Across Multiple Farms

Martins estimated the suspension would affect a quarter of the 40,000 direct jobs tied to beef exports to the continent.

During the last significant FMD outbreak in the EU in 2001, more than six million animals were culled, the delegation’s statement noted.

The disease is characterized by fever and blisters around the hooves and mouth, preventing animals from feeding and occasionally leading to mortality.

FMD has since struck several southern African nations, including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Following the declaration of the outbreak in southern Namibia on September 22, the virus had spread to 11 farms, officials reported.

The government response has included intensified surveillance, tracing, testing, movement controls, veterinary roadblocks and biosecurity measures, according to agriculture ministry spokesman Romeo Muyunda.

(with AFP)

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