European farmers have warned that they face significant losses of revenue because countries outside the European Union have started banning imports of animals from Europe, after an outbreak of Schmallenberg virus, which affects cattle, sheep and goats.

Russia decided on Tuesday (20 March) to ban all live-animal imports from the EU and more countries are expected to follow suit over the coming weeks.

Click Here: kanken kids cheap

Russia had already enacted a temporary ban last month on imports of sheep, cattle and genetic material (semen) from the eight EU countries affected by the virus. But this week, Russia extended the ban to the entire EU and included pigs, which have not been affected by the virus.

Egypt has stopped imports of live cattle, and Uruguay announced yesterday (21 March) that it would ban all imports of genetic material from Europe. The European Commission said that 15 countries including the United States and Canada have expressed concern or requested information about the virus.

Russia is the EU’s biggest market for live-animal exports, with a trade worth €188 million in 2011. The most severely affected countries will be in eastern Europe and the Baltic – where the Schmallenberg virus has not yet hit. Exports to Russia account for three-quarters of Latvia’s live-pig exports.

The virus, named after a town in Germany where it was first discovered in November, causes stillbirths and deformities in cattle, sheep and goats. It has been found on 923 farms in Germany, 670 in France and 158 in the UK. The disease is spread by midges, and is expected to spread further as the weather turns warmer.

The UK does not export large numbers of live animals to Russia. But the British Agriculture Bureau (BAB) is concerned that other countries will take up a ban. It is pushing for the Commission to fund rapid development of a vaccine. The Commission has scheduled a meeting of interested parties on 2 April.

“If the ban extends to other countries where we have trade, such as China, it would be very worrying,” said BAB assistant director Dawn Howard. “There is a lot of work going on promoting British pork in China. Pigs don’t get Schmallenberg, but that didn’t stop Russia.”

WTO violation

Karel De Gucht, the European commissioner for trade, and John Dalli, the European commissioner for health and consumer policy, condemned the Russian ban as disproportionate and unjustified. They have written to Russia warning that the ban is not in line with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Russia is scheduled to join the WTO by the end of the year after its accession was approved in December.

“Russia is sending a very negative signal to its international trade partners on its seriousness toward the WTO, given its pending accession to the international trade body,” the commissioners said in a joint statement.

The Commission pointed out that the Schmallenberg virus has not been shown to pose any threat to humans, making a ban unjustified on health grounds. Russia cited a host of concerns in its justification, including an outbreak of bluetongue, a disease affecting cattle, sheep and goats.