Brussels Redraws Europe's Pig-Movement Map: Pavia Wins Relief, Brandenburg Tightens
Published on 10/27/2026 at 01:10 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Forty municipalities in the northern Italian province of Pavia have been released from all African swine fever (ASF) restrictions, one of the largest single unblockings in the European Commission's latest round of regional zoning changes.
The adjustments stem from shifting epidemiological evidence across member states and are set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2220, which amends Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2023/594. A further 18 Pavia municipalities move down from the stricter Zone II to Zone I.
According to the Lombardy regional authority, 25 municipalities in Pavia remain in Zone I — among them Voghera, Stradella and Broni — while 38, including Varzi and Casteggio, stay in Zone II. The infection now clusters along the strip of land between the Po river and the A21 motorway. Alongside the zoning changes, a third regional biosecurity funding round in Lombardy drew 108 applications representing more than €12.5 million in planned investment.
Emilia-Romagna clears two provinces
Relief in Emilia-Romagna followed a joint proposal from Commissioner Giovanni Filippini and the regional administration. In Piacenza province, Castel San Giovanni and Calendasco move from Zone I to free status, while Borgonovo Val Tidone and Ziano Piacentino drop from Zone II to Zone I. In Reggio Emilia province, Albinea and Scandiano leave Zone I and are now classed as free.
The Commission's justification: no new outbreaks have been recorded in the affected areas since September 2025, and every analysis carried out between September 2025 and September 2026 returned a negative result. Regional assessors Mammi and Fabi stressed that the reclassification matters greatly for meat exports to markets including the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
A second legal instrument took effect on 24 October 2026. Implementing Regulation 2026/2371 redraws the zones for several countries — chiefly Germany, Italy, Poland and Czechia — following an earlier update of emergency measures.
Under it, Czechia's Liberec region was removed from the restriction lists entirely, after twelve months without infections. Italian adjustments covered parts of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Piedmont, with areas either downgraded from Zone II to Zone I or lifted out of the system altogether. In Poland, parts of the West Pomeranian and Lubusz voivodeships moved from Zone III to Zone II after three months without infections in domestic pigs. Areas of Lower Silesia and Silesia are partly free of restrictions again, and relief also took effect for the Opole region. Hungary's status is unchanged, so no new area requirements apply there.
Wild boar findings trigger upgrades
Not every change loosened the rules. The 24 October 2026 regulation also raised classifications in specific areas after new detections in wild boar. In Germany, an area in the state of Brandenburg moved from Zone I to the stricter Zone II following a confirmed finding. The Commission ordered the same Zone I to Zone II upgrade for an area in Italy's Tuscany and for parts of Poland's ?Ăłd?, Subcarpathian and West Pomeranian regions.
Brussels adjusts zone boundaries continuously to match where the virus is found, aiming to keep trade routes open while stopping the pathogen from spreading further.
