Morocco resumed its imports of Romanian sheep last week, which had been suspended due to the outbreak of the plague of small ruminants (PPR), Cristian Laurentiu Mortasivu, General Director of Romania’s Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority (ANSVSA), told Romanian news platform “Economica.”
The first shipment, containing 13,000 live sheep, has already left Romania and is on its way to Morocco, one of the biggest markets for Romanian breeders, according to Mortavisu.
After the outbreak of PRR was confirmed in Romania in July, the total number of exported sheep fell to 1.4 million heads compared to 2.3 million in 2023.
A public-private Moroccan delegation led by the nation’s ambassador to Romania, Hassan Abouyoub, inspected the livestock on November 7 at the collection center in Constanța to inspect the livestock.
The delegation included the director of the National Office of Food Safety (ONSSA), Abdellah Janati, and an anonymous Moroccan company interested in importing sheep from Romania.
After careful examination, the delegation gave the exportation the green light for the first batch of sheep to Morocco.
According to Romania’s National Institute of Statistics (INS), Morocco is the country’s 10th biggest importer of Romanian sheep, receiving 15,470 units in 2023, which represents 0.6% of the country’s total 2.3 million heads exported.