Foot-and-mouth disease has been present in Cyprus since last December. The Ministry of Agriculture, the Veterinary Services, livestock farmers, dairy and cheese producers and agricultural organisations, knowing that this viral disease affecting cloven-hoofed ruminants can be transmitted even through the air or by birds, had an obligation to declare, or to request the declaration of, a state of emergency at that time in order to limit the risk of the virus spreading from the north to the government controlled areas.
Instead, the Veterinary Services, which are not known for their responsiveness, limited themselves to issuing announcements. On 16 December they addressed the dairy and livestock sectors, calling for specific preventive measures and heightened vigilance.
In such cases, however, where:
- the economic consequences are enormous and potentially devastating for the entire economy, given the high transmissibility of the disease and the need to cull all animals on affected farms,
- the sector concerned involves one of the country’s most promising industries, halloumi production, for which the state has for years provided incentives amounting to millions of euros so that Cyprus can apply the Protected Designation of Origin requirement for an increased proportion of sheep and goat milk by 2029,
self regulation cannot be the solution. Especially in a country not known for strict adherence to safety standards, where rules are, at best, flexible and adapted according to interests.
Under these circumstances and judging by the outcome, it appears that:
- the Veterinary Services did not conduct systematic inspections in the period between the detection of cases in the north on 15 December and 19 February, when the first case in Livadia, Larnaca, was reported,
- livestock farmers, perhaps not all, who are now seeking state compensation and for whom we express deep sympathy for the tragic situation they face, did not strictly observe biosecurity measures,
- dairy industries and cheesemakers did not exercise control where measures were not being implemented, and
- agricultural organisations did not press for strict and systematic enforcement of biosecurity rules.
All of the above, if they believe that they are not responsible, owe it to the citizens who will bear the cost to demonstrate, with documents and evidence, that each acted preventively within their remit.
At the same time, questions arise over the haste of the Minister of Agriculture to proceed, even before her aircraft had landed in Larnaca from Brussels, and before all containment measures had been taken, before the cause of the spread had been clarified and before the alarm had subsided, with a proposal to the Council of Ministers for compensation. According to livestock farmers, such compensation should not be symbolic.
Elections are approaching and the government’s partners are under pressure not to lose further votes. Nevertheless, the minister could at least have observed the necessary formalities.