Foot-and-Mouth Disease Prompts EU to Halt Meat Imports from Namibia

The European Union announced on Monday that it has temporarily suspended imports of fresh meat from Namibia due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in the country. This decision follows Namibia’s first FMD outbreak in its primary commercial livestock zone in 60 years, declared on September 22.

The EU’s suspension covers fresh meat from cattle, sheep, goats, and certain processed meat products, although processed meat that has undergone the most severe risk-mitigating treatments remains eligible for import.

The EU is Namibia’s largest beef market, accounting for more than 80 percent of the country’s beef exports, with around 10 million kilograms of beef exported annually. EU ambassador Ana Beatriz Martins noted that about a quarter of the 40,000 direct jobs involved in exports to Europe could be affected by the suspension.

Since the outbreak, FMD has spread to 11 farms in southern Namibia. The Namibian government has responded with intensified surveillance, tracing, testing, movement controls, veterinary roadblocks, and biosecurity measures to contain the disease.

Foot-and-mouth disease causes fever and blisters near the hooves and mouth of affected animals, hindering feeding and sometimes leading to death. The disease has also affected several other southern African countries, including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.