Those refusing to slaughter their pigs may face two years in prison.
People refusing to fulfil or violating the veterinary and sanitary rules will be brought to administrative and criminal responsibility.
"In accordance with the veterinary and sanitary rules of pig farming, it is prohibited for employees of pig complexes to raise their own pigs. Pig raising is also prohibited for small farms and individuals to raise pigs within a radius of 5 kilometres of a pig complex," reads the instruction of the department of veterinary and food control of the Belarusian Ministry of Agriculture.
The instruction warns about administrative sanctions and criminal responsibility for failure to fulfil the veterinary rules. Under the Code of Administrative Offences, a warning or a fine of up to 20 penalty units (20 million rubles) may be issued.
"Violating veterinary rules that resulted through negligence in the spread of infectious animal diseases is punished with restriction of freedom or imprisonment of up to two years," the Ministry of Agriculture and Food warns.
The second outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) was detected in Belarus in early July in the Vitebsk region. The first outbreak was found in the Hrodna region. The first results of the investigation showed that the cause of the outbreak was contaminated animal feed from Russia.
Raising own pigs within a radius of 5 km of pig complexes was forbidden in Belarus in late July. All pigs and pig products transported in violation of the veterinary rules must be seized and destroyed immediately. Residents of some villages already refused to slaughter their pigs.
