The general director of Livestock, Abel Woodreported the suspension of the Spanish pork imports and its derived products after the detection of the disease in that country, the main pork producer in Europe.
He explained that the Dominican agricultural authorities suspended imports from Spain immediately the outbreak of the disease – detected on November 28 in wild boars in the city of Catalonia – was confirmed by the World Organization for Animal Health (WHO).
He pointed out that entry will be allowed to all meat products purchased before the date prior to the publication of the international organization, but new imports from this country will no longer be accepted.
The official explained that, although the Dominican Republic not a big buyer pork From Spain – whose imports from January to October of this year were only 792,128 dollars according to a report from the General Directorate of Customs – it does acquire many sausages, such as Iberian ham.
“There is a permanent trade in sausages that will be affected“he acknowledged.
However, he recalled that the largest purchases of fresh and frozen pork – whose demand increases especially during the Christmas season – come from the USAwhose volumes were valued at 208.9 million dollars, according to Customs.
national production
Madera assured that the african swine fever –detected in 2021 and recognized as a endemic disease in the country since November 2024 – “is under control“and with fewer and fewer reports of outbreaks.
He reported that the agricultural sector held a technical meeting with the president of the Republic, Luis Abinaderin which balance was passed to the pig sector facing Christmas, a season of high consumption of this meat.
In this sense, he assured that the disease in the country “is under control“and with each time fewer outbreaks.
Although he avoided giving specific figures, he assured that the pig sector National expects to have, at the end of this year, a production highest than that reported in 2024, located at 1,426,040 quintals, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Data of the Department of agriculture Until June of this year, they point out that pork production in the country reached 66,380 quintals in June, for a drop of 55.8% since January of this year –150,274.5 quintals–, the month in which the first outbreaks of the disease were recorded in Cibao provinces such as Dajabón, Hermanas Mirabal, La Vega and Espaillat, reducing production in the first quarter of the year.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Spain confirmed the presence of swine fever through an official report notified to the WHOA on November 28, 2025. The institution recognized that with this detection, it loses to the WHOA the status of a country free of this disease that had been achieved since 1995. It noted that ASF has been present in the European Union since its entry into the Baltic Countries and in Poland since 2014, which has affected the populations of wild boars from up to 13 countries (Italy, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia). The disease remains undetected at the production farm level. However, countries such as Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom have already banned imports of Spanish meat, while China has restricted purchases from Barcelona, according to Spanish media reports.
