Article 11Measures in the established surveillance zone

1.

Member States shall ensure that the following measures are applied in the surveillance zone:

(a)

a census shall be taken of all pig holdings;

(b)

the movement and transport of pigs on public or private roads, excluding when necessary the service roads of holdings, shall be prohibited, unless approved by the competent authority. This prohibition need not be applied to the transit of pigs by road or rail, without unloading or stopping, or to slaughter pigs coming from outside the surveillance zone and on their way to a slaughterhouse situated in the said zone for immediate slaughter;

(c)

trucks and other vehicles and equipment which are used to transport pigs or other livestock or material which may be contaminated (such as carcases, feedingstuff, manure, slurry and so forth) shall be cleaned, disinfected, if necessary disinsectised and treated as soon as possible after contamination, in accordance with Article 12. No truck or vehicle which has been used in the transport of pigs may leave the zone without having been cleaned and disinfected;

(d)

no other domestic animal may enter or leave a holding during the first seven days after establishment of the zone without the authorisation of the competent authority;

(e)

all dead or diseased pigs on a holding shall be immediately notified to the competent authority, which shall carry out appropriate investigations in accordance with the procedures laid down in the diagnostic manual;

(f)

pigs may not be removed from the holding in which they are kept for at least 30 days after the completion of the preliminary cleansing, disinfection and, if necessary, disinsectisation of the infected holdings. After 30 days, subject to the conditions set out in Article 10(3), the competent authority may authorise the removal of the pigs from the said holding to be directly transported to:

  • a slaughterhouse designated by the competent authority, preferably within the protection or surveillance zone, for the purpose of immediate slaughter,

  • a processing plant or a suitable place where the pigs are immediately killed and their carcases are processed under official supervision, or

  • in exceptional circumstances, other premises located within the protection or surveillance zone. Member States making use of this provision shall immediately inform the Commission thereof in the Standing Veterinary Committee.

However, if the pigs are to be transported to a slaughterhouse, at the request of a Member State, accompanied by appropriate justification, and in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2), derogations from Article 10(3)(e) and (f), fourth indent, may be authorised, in particular with respect to the marking of the meat from these pigs and its subsequent use, and the destination of the treated products;

(g)

semen, ova or embryos of pigs shall not leave the holdings situated within the surveillance zone;

(h)

any person entering or leaving pig holdings shall comply with appropriate hygienic measures as necessary to reduce the risk of African swine fever virus spreading.

2.

Where the prohibitions provided for in paragraph 1 are maintained beyond 40 days because of further outbreaks of the disease, and where as a result animal welfare or other problems arise in keeping the pigs, subject to the conditions referred to in Article 10(3), the competent authority may, following a reasoned application by the owner, authorise the removal of pigs from a holding within the surveillance zone to be directly transported to:

(a)

a slaughterhouse designated by the competent authority, preferably within the protection or surveillance zone, for the purpose of immediate slaughter;

(b)

a processing plant or a suitable place where the pigs are immediately killed and their carcases are processed under official supervision, or

(c)

in exceptional circumstances, other premises located within the protection or surveillance zone. Member States making use of this provision shall immediately inform the Commission thereof in the Standing Veterinary Committee.

3.

The measures in the surveillance zone shall continue to be applied at least until:

(a)

cleansing, disinfection and, if necessary, disinsectisation in the infected holdings have been carried out;

(b)

pigs on all holdings have undergone clinical and, where necessary, laboratory examinations as laid down in the diagnostic manual in order to detect the eventual presence of African swine fever virus.

The examinations referred to in point (b) shall not take place until 40 days have elapsed since the completion of preliminary cleansing, disinfection and, if necessary, disinsectisation measures on the infected holdings.

4.

However, by way of derogation from paragraph 1(f), and from paragraphs 2 and 3, the 30-day periods stipulated in paragraph 1(f) and the 40-day periods stipulated in paragraphs 2 and 3 may be reduced respectively to 21, 30 and 20 days if, in accordance with the diagnostic manual, the Member States have applied an intensive sampling and testing programme making it possible to rule out the presence of African swine fever on the holding in question.