The intentional deeds that lead to the spread of an infectious and contagious animal or plant disease will be punished criminally. The responsible person faces a fine of 27,500 to 42,500 lei or even one to three years in jail. The punishment is harsher in the case of legal entities or if the same deed results in the massive infection of animals or plants. This is provided in a bill to amend the Penal Code that was drafted by the Ministry of Justice, IPN reports.
Under the bill, the legal entity will be punished with a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 lei and banned from performing a particular activity or liquidated if this spreads an infectious animal or plant disease.
The same deed will be considered aggravating situation if it result in the massive infection of animals or plants or considerable damage. In this case, the private individuals will be fined 32,500 to 57,500 lei or jailed for three to five years, while the legal entities will be fined 200,000 to 300,000 lei and banned from performing a particular activity or liquidated.
According to the authorities, only two outbreaks of African swine fever were reported in 2016, seven in 2017 and 23 by September 21 this year. It was determined that the food products smuggled by travelers into the country are the main source of infection of pigs.
The bill authors said a relevant case is the outbreak of African swine fever in Mereni village of Anenii Noi district due to the ignorance of locals who caused the disease by infected products brought from Ukraine. Over 205,000 lei was spent on the eradication of this outbreak.
