EU suspends South African horse imports over African horse …

The European Commission has suspended the entry into the Union of consignments of registered horses from zone ZA-1 in South Africa, the area restricted to the metropolitan area of Cape Town in Western Cape province, after an outbreak of African horse sickness (AHS) was reported on 29 October 2026. The measure is contained in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2523, adopted in Brussels on 9 November 2026 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union L series of 10 November 2026. The same act tightens the poultry lists for Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States after new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

A suspension already written into the rulebook

The decision rests on Regulation (EU) 2016/429 (the Animal Health Law) and on Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692, which set the animal health requirements for entry into the Union. The operative lists are laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/404, whose Annex IV authorises the entry of equine animals from approved third-country zones.

Zone ZA-1 had been re-authorised by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1170 under specific conditions, including additional risk-mitigating measures for AHS. Point 4(c) of Part 3 of Annex IV requires the immediate suspension of entry of registered horses from ZA-1 in the event of a confirmed case of AHS in the controlled area, lasting until the Commission re-authorises it.

Horses: ZA-1 closed again

South Africa notified the Commission of an AHS outbreak within the controlled area in Western Cape province on 29 October 2026. In the amended table, the entry for South Africa now carries zone ZA-1 for registered horses with the code AHS-ZA and the date 27 October 2026, replacing the previous authorisation. The Commission states that the suspension is needed to protect the animal health status of the Union, taking into account the date on which the outbreak was confirmed.

Poultry: new restricted zones in three countries

Following notifications of HPAI confirmed by RT-PCR laboratory analysis, and after the three countries reported 10 km restricted zones and stamping-out policies, the Commission has added new restricted zones to Annex V (poultry and germinal products) and Annex XIV (fresh meat of poultry and game birds):

Canada, province of Alberta: zones CA-2.353 (Manning and Northern Lights, outbreak confirmed 20 October 2026), CA-2.354 (Foothills and Okotoks, 20 October 2026) and CA-2.355 (Rimbey and Ponoka, 30 October 2026).
United Kingdom: zone GB-2.473, a 10 km circle near Biggar, Scottish Borders, Scotland, confirmed 2 November 2026.
United States: zones US-2.1433 to US-2.1436 in Wisconsin (Barron County), Minnesota (Morrison County), California (Stanislaus County) and Iowa (Sac County), confirmed between 23 and 29 October 2026.

One Canadian zone reopens

In the same act, the Commission re-authorises entry from the Canadian zone CA-2.340, which had been suspended after an earlier HPAI outbreak. Canada reported that it had applied a stamping-out policy and completed the required cleaning and disinfection in the infected establishments, and the Commission considers that the zone no longer represents a threat to animal or public health in the Union.

Urgency and entry into force

The regulation enters into force on the day following publication, that is 11 November 2026, and is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. The Commission justifies the urgency by the AHS and HPAI outbreaks and by the need to avoid unnecessary disruption in trade with Canada. The measures were adopted under the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed and signed for the Commission by its President, Ursula von der Leyen.

The immediate effect falls on South African breeders and European equestrian operators that rely on the Cape Town corridor for registered horses, which stays closed until the Commission expressly re-authorises it. For agri-food importers, the change is narrower but precise: poultry, hatching eggs and fresh poultry meat from the listed Canadian, British and American zones can no longer enter the Union, while the Canadian CA-2.340 zone returns to trade.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, No 2026/2523, 10 November 2026 (official reference: CELEX L_202602523).