Tánczos's negligence, and the EU vaccination campaign against sheep plague

The Romanian government decided, in a decision issued on Friday, to accept the European Commission's donation of 1.1 million doses of vaccine against peste des petits ruminants and sheep and goat pox. These diseases have been ravaging Romania's sheep and goat population for months, and because of them the country has so far been unable to export live animals. The donation consists of 300,000 doses of Pestevac vaccine against peste des petits ruminants and 800,000 doses of Jovivac vaccine against sheep and goat pox. The shipment is worth 1,312,135 lei, and according to the government's statement, a separate government decision was required because the market value of the donation exceeds the 500,000-lei threshold set out in the Administrative Code.

The vaccine will be managed by the National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA), which will also organize the national emergency vaccination campaign. Prime Minister Luca Niculescu announced at the start of Friday's extraordinary cabinet meeting that the first 300,000 doses had already arrived in Romania and that further shipments would follow. "This European support will allow us to act more quickly against the spread of the diseases. The task of the national authorities is clear: we must contain the outbreaks, protect the livestock, and create the conditions for the safe resumption of trade in live animals and animal products," the prime minister said.

Under the European Commission's decisions, no live sheep or goats may be shipped from Romania to other EU member states or to third countries until December 31. The restriction is causing serious losses for breeders, and vaccination is a mandatory precondition for eradicating the diseases, stabilizing the epidemic situation, and gradually lifting the restrictions. The campaign will be carried out on the basis of the official Romanian vaccination plan submitted to the Commission and the member states, and will begin once all the vaccine doses have arrived. According to Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu, this marks "the first step toward resolving the crisis in the sheep sector"; he is due to travel to Luxembourg on Monday to begin talks with the Commission on when the ban on exports to third countries could be lifted.

Were we delayed because of Barna Tánczos's negligence?

On October 19, Barna Tánczos, the outgoing government's interim agriculture minister, accused the European Commission of still not having delivered the doses promised to Romania, even though Romanian authorities had already been promised rapid delivery back in early September. "This delay is in no way the fault of the domestic authorities, but rather of the delayed delivery of the free doses," Tánczos said. The Commission, however, subsequently presented a timeline showing that Romania only sent its official request to the European vaccine bank on September 21, and its vaccination plans two days later. Brussels asked for clarifications on October 2, Bucharest replied on October 5, and the European stockpiles were opened on October 8. According to the Commission, this amount of time was necessary because the plans had to be reviewed and the legal and practical conditions had to be met.

However, the donation now arriving is only a fraction of what is needed. A month ago, Alexandru Bociu, the head of ANSVSA, said the country would need a total of about 11 million doses of vaccine, most of them against pox. Since no such vaccine is manufactured in Romania, the authority intends to procure the doses through intergovernmental agreements directly from the producing countries, so as to keep the price below one leu per dose.

"No one should think this will become a business. We are procuring the vaccine at the lowest price available in the world, and we will not let intermediaries do as they please, even though some are already doing the math"

Bociu told Agerpres.

ANSVSA is also negotiating with the Commission for Brussels to reimburse about 30 percent of the vaccination costs. The campaign will be free of charge for farmers; vaccination against pox will take place across the entire country, while vaccination against peste des petits ruminants will be carried out in Constanța and Tulcea counties, and according to Bociu it could be completed within 30 to 45 days. There is also a shortage of veterinarians, so the authority will, if necessary, deploy specialists from the county veterinary health directorates and laboratories alongside the contracted veterinarians.

"For us, this is a state of emergency. If necessary, together with the staff of ANSVSA, with me at the forefront, we will go and administer the vaccinations ourselves. We are veterinarians, some of us grew up in the barn"

Bociu said.

Resuming exports is a matter of survival for the sheep sector, since Romania has conquered an increasing number of foreign markets in recent years. According to Bociu, this year Algeria bought 630,000 live sheep and more than 150,000 carcasses from Romania, Morocco has bought several hundred thousand live sheep and carcasses in recent years, and Tunisia has opened up as a new market. According to ANSVSA, agreements have already been signed with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Israel and Libya allowing the export of animals vaccinated under the full vaccination scheme, and a month ago advanced negotiations were underway on seven further similar agreements. Bociu said they had not found a single Middle Eastern or other third country that would refuse vaccinated animals, but the resumption of exports depends on whether Romania fulfills the European steps required to change its epidemiological status and the measures committed to in the action plan. Back in September, Bociu promised that exports could resume by the end of the year, but this will also require a Commission audit once the campaign is completed.

Ugar