site.btaFood Safety Agency: Bulgaria Not Approved by China to Export Animals and Meat There

The products and animals included in China's import ban will not affect trade between the two countries, as Bulgaria has not been approved by China to export either meat and products of ruminants and poultry or live animals, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) told BTA on Monday in connection with the information that China has banned imports of sheep, goat, even-toed ungulates and poultry from European, African and Asian countries due to fears of outbreaks of livestock diseases.

BFSA said that Bulgaria, being a Member State of the European Union and a member of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), has both individually and as part of the EU an obligation to notify a number of diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza, ovine rinderpest (peste des petits ruminants), smallpox in sheep and goats, among others. Such notifications are made both to the European Commission and other EU Member States, as well as to WOAH member countries, including China. The purpose of disease notification to WOAH is to track the evolution of epidemiologically important diseases, to support safe trade and protect national, regional, and global animal health, as well as public health.

Countries that are WOAH members, such as China, have the right - based on the information received and their national legislation - to impose trade bans in order to protect domestic livestock production and consumer health, BFSA added.

On 21 January 2025, the official website of the General Administration of Chinese Customs (GACC) published a number of reports related to animal diseases in various countries around the world. Only one of these notices mentions Bulgaria, BFSA said.