Boat owners told to burn food waste due to FMD outbreak in eastern Mediterranean
Greece, Cyprus battling foot and mouth disease outbreak
Boat owners have been ordered to incinerate all food waste or dispose of it outside Maltese waters, in the wake of a foot and mouth disease outbreak on farms in Cyprus and Greece.
Cyprus has been battling an outbreak of FMD - a highly contagious viral infection affecting cattle, pigs, sheep and goats – since December. In March, Greece reported cases on the island of Lesvos.
A notice issued by the Food Safety and Security Authority warned that “all appropriate precautionary measures are to be taken with immediate effect to ensure that food waste or waste derived from cooking, or all food processing from boats, vessels, other maritime vehicles and airplanes or other aerial vehicles may only be disposed of by incineration, otherwise not disposed within the sea, land or aerial territory of the Maltese Islands."
The directive applies to all boat owners and operators, regardless of whether they have travelled to or operated within affected areas, and will remain in force until lifted.
A spokesperson for the agriculture ministry, under which the FSSA falls, said the measure was adopted following the statement issued by the World Organisation for Animal Health, which called for increased vigilance across EU Member States in light of the recent outbreak.
Following the outbreak, Cypriot authorities implemented a three-kilometre protection and 10-kilometre surveillance zone around the initial outbreaks, with a further restricted zone covering the entire country. Measures include a country-wide movement ban for 21 days, a closure of abattoirs, closure of livestock units and a ban on entry into infected or suspected premises.
Similar restrictions are in place on Lesvos.
FMD causes very significant economic losses, due to production losses in the affected animals and due to the loss of access to foreign markets for animals, meat and milk for affected countries.
An EU wide ban is in place for personal imports of fresh meat, meat products, milk, dairy products, colostrum, colostrum products and certain composite products and animal by-products of ruminant and porcine origin.