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The Polish government plans to introduce legislation that should facilitate the fight against the spread of African swine fever (ASF). The new legislation should allow hunters to kill wild pigs both day and night, as well as specifying the length of imprisonment for those found to be preventing these blasts. According to the proposal, the army could be involved in the shooting of wild pigs. According to Minister of Agriculture Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, both the European Union and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have confirmed the need to blasting off a part of the wild pig population in order to balance the ecosystem. The new legislation has already been approved by the Senate and is now awaiting the President's signature. Only in Estonia due to African swine fever, the number of breeders decreased from 1300 to 130.

German Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner and Polish Minister of Agriculture Jan Ardanowski agreed on a joint action plan to prevent the spread of African swine fever to German territory. Infection into Germany is threatened from Poland, the closest case of infection was confirmed only 12 kilometres from the German border. The plan of action includes the construction of a fenced corridor along the borders, intensification of R&D cooperation, and reduction of wild pigs through blasting. Germany is also preparing to eventually spread the disease to its territory - federal authorities will be able to permit the construction of fences at their borders to prevent the migration of wild pigs.

Last week, Germany confirmed the first case of avian influenza in its territory. Germany thus joined other countries that have already confirmed the disease - Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic or Slovakia, according to some sources and Hungary and Romania. The presence of the disease was also confirmed by Ukraine, near the border with Poland.
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A new dispute arises between retailers and large international food companies concerning so-called territorial supply constraints. Large supermarkets say that international food companies are preventing them from buying from other EU countries (e.g. a supermarket in Belgium cannot buy products from a food producer in Germany where prices are lower). If a supermarket attempts to purchase, existing suppliers threaten to disrupt the supply of goods, which is contrary to single market rules. The Commission therefore commissioned a study to clarify the issues at issue. The data should also help to determine if there are unexplained price differences between the same foods in different EU countries. The results of the study should be known by the end of the first quarter of 2020. Food producers and retailers can add their opinion in a survey by the end of January 2020 here.
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The Walloon government (the southern part of Belgium) refused to ratify the European Union's trade agreement with Mercosur last week. Walloon Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said that Walloon rejects the current draft agreement under which Mercosur should be allowed to import nearly 100,000 tonnes of beef into the EU markets, endangering the beef sector in Belgium. Di Rupo also stated that the second reason for refusing to ratify the agreement was the different level of standards in the field of hygiene and the use of chemicals in the production or treatment of production.