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Compliance

African swine fever in Republika Srpska: keeper duties and compensation

Published: 7 October 2026Updated: 8 October 2026Author: AgroTour Connect team
In brief

Report every suspicion of African swine fever and every pig death to a vet at once. Once the disease is confirmed, the inspector orders all pigs on the holding to be killed, and in the infected area pigs may not be transported without his approval. Only owners of marked pigs who reported the disease at once are entitled to compensation.

African swine fever (ASF) is not dangerous to people, but it kills a very high share of infected pigs and there is no vaccine. The rules below apply to anyone who keeps pigs in Republika Srpska, including a single pig for home use.

The disease was confirmed in Republika Srpska again this year. On 11 June 2026 the Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management) announced that it had been confirmed on a family farm in the village of Gradac near Bijeljina, the first confirmed case in Republika Srpska since 8 January 2026. In early June the disease was also confirmed on a farm in Foča. According to the Ministry, by 20 August 2026 a total of 11 outbreaks had been confirmed in Republika Srpska and 304 pigs had been euthanised, and on that day Republika Srpska had gone 13 days without a new confirmed case. On 28 July 2026 Inspektorat Republike Srpske (the Republika Srpska Inspectorate) warned that the disease is still present, and that it is also present in Serbia and Croatia, right at the border with Republika Srpska. Check the current situation with the Ministry or the veterinary inspector.

The rules come from the Pravilnik o mjerama za rano otkrivanje, dijagnostiku, sprečavanje širenja, suzbijanje i iskorjenjivanje zarazne bolesti afričke kuge svinja (Rulebook on measures against African swine fever, Official Gazette of RS no. 71/19). It was corrected in no. 102/19 and amended three times in 2023 (nos. 59/23, 68/23 and 71/23). The 2023 amendments deal, among other things, with slaughtering pigs for home use and moving pigs from the infected and threatened areas to another farm or to a slaughterhouse, and they shortened the time limits for moving pigs. This article describes the 2019 text with the time limits as amended in 2023, so check the other conditions for slaughter and movement with the veterinary inspector.

In short

  • Report every suspicion of the disease and every pig death at once to the authorised veterinary organisation or the veterinary inspector. The veterinary organisation must inform the inspector within 24 hours.
  • Once the disease is confirmed on a holding, the inspector orders all pigs on it to be killed without delay.
  • The infected area covers a radius of at least 3 km around the outbreak, and the threatened area a radius of at least 10 km. The Ministry sets the boundaries.
  • In the infected area, moving or transporting pigs on public or private roads is banned unless the inspector approves.
  • Only owners of marked pigs who reported the disease at once and carried out the ordered measures are entitled to compensation.

Who it applies to

The rules apply to every owner or keeper of pigs: individuals and companies, commercial farms and households with a few pigs. On a holding under suspicion, people and vehicles may not enter or leave without the inspector's written approval.

What to do

  1. Have all your pigs properly marked and check that they are entered in the register. For marking, go to the veterinary organisation in your municipality. An owner of unmarked pigs has no right to compensation.
  2. Do not buy or sell pigs without the required veterinary documents. Do not buy animals of unknown origin. Report any suspected illegal animal trade to the veterinary inspection.
  3. Limit access to the holding for other people and vehicles, and apply biosecurity and hygiene measures every day. The virus also spreads on clothes, footwear, tools and vehicles. In practice this means a disinfection barrier for footwear and vehicles at the entrance, separate clothes and boots for work with the pigs, and keeping the pigs where they cannot come into contact with wild boar.
  4. Do not feed pigs table scraps or kitchen waste. The virus stays active in meat and meat products that have not been heat-treated.
  5. Never dump a dead animal in the countryside. Report it to a vet. The Inspectorate specifically warns against disposing of carcasses in nature.
  6. On suspicion, wait for the inspector's instructions. The inspector places the holding under supervision, orders a count of all pigs by category, and orders the pigs to be kept in their pens or in an isolated area. Moving pigs onto or off the holding is banned. Without the inspector's written approval, no carcasses may be taken off the holding, no pork or pig products, feed, waste or equipment may be traded, and people and vehicles may not enter or leave. Disinfection barriers are placed at the entrances and exits. Where the situation requires it, the inspector may set up a temporary control zone around the holding. The measures last until the disease is officially ruled out.
  7. After confirmation, all pigs are killed under the inspector's supervision and samples are taken. Carcasses are safely disposed of, together with products from pigs slaughtered in the period before the measures began. Buildings, vehicles and equipment are then cleaned and disinfected. The same measures can also be applied to contact holdings, meaning holdings the virus may have reached because they are nearby or through movement of people, pigs or vehicles.

What applies in the infected area

These are the rules in the 2019 text, with the time limits as amended in 2023. The 2023 amendments also added further options for moving and slaughtering pigs, so check the conditions with the inspector.

  • All holdings with pigs are listed, and unmarked pigs are marked and registered. A vet checks the pigs on every holding within seven days.
  • Moving or transporting pigs on public or private roads is banned anywhere in the infected area without the inspector's approval. The ban does not apply to pigs passing through by road or rail without unloading or stopping.
  • Pigs may not be moved from holdings in the infected area until at least 40 days after the cleaning and first disinfection of the infected holdings. This period can be cut to 15 days if a sampling and testing programme has ruled out the virus (amendment in no. 59/23). After that the inspector may approve transport directly to a slaughterhouse or another designated facility, after a clinical check and in a vehicle sealed by the inspector.
  • Other domestic animals may be brought onto or taken off a holding only with the inspector's approval.
  • Every sick or dead pig is reported to the inspector without delay.
  • Trade in pig semen, ova and embryos from holdings in the infected area is banned.
  • In the threatened area, the movement bans can also be cut to 15 days with the same sampling programme (nos. 59/23 and 71/23). Since the amendment in no. 71/23 the inspector may also approve moving pigs out of the threatened area to moderate-risk farms that meet biosecurity conditions.

Compensation

The right to compensation is set by the Zakon o veterinarstvu u Republici Srpskoj (Law on Veterinary Medicine, Official Gazette of RS nos. 75/17 and 63/24, arts. 56 to 58). An owner has no right to compensation if the animal was not marked as the law requires, if there is no animal health certificate, if the owner deliberately or through gross negligence did not report the disease or suspicion at once, if compulsory vaccination and diagnostic tests were not done, or if the owner did not carry out the required measures, including movement bans.

The damage is valued at the animal's market value at the time it was killed or died, by a Komisija za procjenu štete (damage assessment commission) appointed by the minister. The claim goes to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management between 15 September and 15 October of the current year, for damage that occurred between 15 September of the previous year and 15 September of the current year. For losses in summer 2026 this means 15 October 2026 at the latest. The minister decides on the claim by a decision. There is no appeal, but an administrative dispute can be started within 30 days of receiving the decision.

The conditions and documents for the claim are set by the Pravilnik o uslovima za ostvarivanje prava na naknadu štete (Rulebook on the conditions for compensation, Official Gazette of RS no. 55/25), which replaced the earlier rulebooks of 2020 and 2024. Check the claim form, the list of attachments and how payment is made with the Ministry before you apply.

For the 2023 epidemic a separate Rulebook on the conditions and manner of providing support for damage recovery and for measures to combat and eradicate African swine fever was also adopted (Official Gazette of RS no. 64/23, amended in nos. 65/23, 66/23 and 92/23). It set aside 3,000,000 KM from the Compensation Fund for its measures, and claims went to the Agencija za agrarna plaćanja (Agency for Agrarian Payments) within 45 days of the measure. In August 2023 the Ministry announced that a total of 4,000,000 KM had been paid for buying about 7,500 healthy pigs from the infected and threatened areas: half came from the Government of Republika Srpska and half from the buyers and processors. Ask the Ministry or the Agency whether this rulebook also applies to the 2026 cases.

Where to go

  • The authorised veterinary organisation in your municipality (Trebinje, Bileća, Gacko, Ljubinje, Nevesinje, Berkovići) and the competent veterinary inspector.
  • Republička uprava za inspekcijske poslove, Inspektorat Republike Srpske (Republic Administration for Inspection Affairs), Trg Republike Srpske 8, Banja Luka, tel. +387 51 334 627.
  • The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and the Agencija za agrarna plaćanja (Agency for Agrarian Payments) for information on support under the ASF rulebook.

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