Belgium: Belgian Regains African Swine Fever-Free Status
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On November 20, 2020, the European Commission declared Belgium free of African Swine Fever (ASF), one year after the last finding of an ASF infection. Belgium becomes only the second EU Member States (MS), after the Czech Republic in 2019, to eradicate the disease and regain export eligibility, while eleven other EU MS continue to fight the disease. This EU decision opens the door for Belgian pork exporters to seek export approval to overseas markets, especially China and other Asian countries. The Belgian pork industry faced severe losses over the last year years after suffering from its own ASF outbreak, the arrival of the COVID-19 crisis, and the outbreak of ASF in its first export market, Germany
