After three years of battling the disease, nearly half of pig farming facilities still have non-compliances. The headquarters introduces enhanced inspections, customs controls, and intensified culling of wild boar.
At a meeting held on July 24, 2026, in Osijek, the National Crisis Headquarters for African Swine Fever agreed on additional measures to combat the disease that has been threatening Croatian pig farming for three years. The meeting was chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, David Vlajčić, and was attended by representatives from several ministries, the State Inspectorate, the State Attorney's Office, hunting and veterinary associations, and pig farmers.
Minister Vlajčić highlighted the seriousness of the situation in the sector.
"After three years of fighting African swine fever, we still have nearly half of facilities with confirmed non-compliance, and over 20 percent of facilities with insufficient biosecurity. This shows that for our pig farming, this is not an acute but a chronic disease. In recent days, finger-pointing has begun, and that will not do any good because a crisis is a time when we all need to work harder together, not use it for petty goals or to wash our hands of responsibility. No one is individually to blame, but if we do not prevent this disease from ravaging us every year, we will all be collectively responsible"Vlajčić said, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.
The headquarters approved a series of operational steps. Plans include intensified inspections of all farms in protection and surveillance zones, coordinated sending of pigs for slaughter with support from the Ministry and the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food, and securing additional slaughter and processing capacities. Also agreed were enhanced police and customs surveillance, logistical assistance for intervention hunting teams, and intensified efforts to reduce the wild boar population.
Producers in Zone III, especially smaller farms, are advised to reduce their pig numbers as soon as possible by selling on the market or slaughtering for their own needs. Farms that still do not meet the requirements after the given deadline will receive an order for the removal of pigs according to current regulations. Minister Vlajčić also announced the possibility of financing the difference up to the market value of pigs for facilities where slaughter would be ordered, and, as a market protection measure, proposed considering a temporary reduction of VAT on pork products.
The Ministry of the Interior will intensify activities in the area of five police directorates in eastern Croatia. State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior Tomislav Bilandžić announced the establishment of checkpoints and surveillance of roads and forest paths, and intervention hunting teams will receive logistical support with drones and thermal imaging cameras. "We call on citizens to report any suspicion of illegal transport or trade in pigs to the police," Bilandžić said, according to a Ministry statement.
The Customs Administration, together with the Ministry of the Interior, will continue enhanced surveillance at border crossings with Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. The head of the Osijek Regional Customs Office, Darko Matanić, confirmed that the morning of the session began with issuing orders for further strengthening customs surveillance. The Croatian Hunting Association, which has been increasing wild boar culling for the third consecutive hunting year, will provide a list of priority hunting grounds and ensure full operational readiness of intervention teams, said the Association's secretary, Hrvoje Kukas.
The headquarters also considered measures to protect domestic pork production. It was agreed to increase state commodity reserves of domestic pork products, strengthen their presence in the public procurement system, and continue talks with retail chains and the HORECA sector to ensure the placement of domestic products from areas affected by the disease. The goal of all agreed activities, as highlighted at the session
