Romania seeks EU-backed expert group to lift ovine export bans amid disease outbreak

The European Commission has agreed to create an urgent group of international experts and Romanian specialists to audit recent outbreaks of ovine variola and peste a micilor rumegătoare (PMR) in Romania. The panel will conduct an on‑site inspection of affected farms and compile a strategy aimed at resuming ovine and caprine exports while preventing further spread to other EU member states.

The group is expected to be established within the week and will deliver its findings by early July. Based on the audit, the Commission will decide on measures to lift the current export bans, which have been extended to third‑country markets until the end of 2026 and remain in place for intra‑EU shipments. Romanian authorities, including ANSVSA president Alexandru Bociu, have held technical talks in Brussels and Luxembourg, receiving support from EU bodies such as DG SANTE and Commissioner Olivier Várhelyi, as well as political backing from Romania’s vice‑premier and interim agriculture minister Tánczos Barna.