(1) African swine fever is an infectious viral disease affecting kept and wild porcine animals and it can have a severe impact on the concerned animal population and the profitability of farming, causing disturbance to movements of consignments of those animals and products thereof within the Union and exports of those consignments to third countries.

(2) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687 (2) supplements the rules for the control of the listed diseases referred to in Article 9(1), points (a), (b) and (c), of Regulation (EU) 2016/429, and defined as category A, B and C diseases in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882 (3). In particular, Articles 63 to 66 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687 provide for certain measures to be taken in the event of an official confirmation of an outbreak of a category A disease in wild animals, including African swine fever in wild porcine animals. Notably, those provisions provide for the establishment of an infected zone and prohibitions on movements of wild animals of listed species and products of animal origin thereof.

(3) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594 (4) lays down special disease control measures for African swine fever to be applied for a limited period of time by the Member States which are listed, or have areas listed, in Annexes I and II thereto. That Implementing Regulation lays down rules, inter alia, on the listing at Union level in Annex I thereto of restricted zones I, II and III following outbreaks of African swine fever, and rules on the listing at Union level in Annex II thereto of areas established as infected zone or restricted zone, comprising protection and surveillance zones, following an outbreak of that disease in a previously disease-free Member State or zone.

(4) Also, in the case of an outbreak of African swine fever in wild porcine animals in a Member State, Article 3, point (b), of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594 provides for the establishment of an infected zone by the competent authority of that Member State, in accordance with Article 63 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687.

(5) Italy informed the Commission of the epidemiological situation as regards African swine fever on its territory following the confirmation of an outbreak of that disease in a wild porcine animal in the Lazio region, on 27 August 2026 in an area that was previously free of that disease. Accordingly, the competent authority of that Member State has established an infected zone in accordance with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, where the general disease control measures laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687 are applied, in order to prevent the further spread of that disease.

(6) Following that notification of that outbreak, the Commission adopted Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1973 (5) concerning interim emergency measures relating to African swine fever in Italy. That decision provides, inter alia, that Italy is to apply, in the areas listed as an infected zone in the Annex thereto, the special disease control measures applicable to restricted zones II, laid down in Article 8(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, and the measures provided for in Article 8(3) and (4) of that Implementing Regulation, as well as the disease control measures laid down in Articles 63 to 66 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687. That Implementing Decision applies until 30 November 2026.

(7) In the case of a first outbreak of African swine fever in wild porcine animals in a previously disease-free Member State or zone, Article 6(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594 provides for the listing of that area as an infected zone in Part A of Annex II to that Implementing Regulation. Consequently, the infected zones established by the competent authority of Italy in the Lazio region, should be listed in Part A of Annex II to that Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594. In addition, Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1973 should be repealed.

(8) Changes to the listing of restricted zones I, II and III in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594 must be based on the epidemiological situation as regards African swine fever in the areas affected by that disease, the overall epidemiological situation of African swine fever in the Member State concerned, and the level of risk for the further spread of that disease. Restricted zones are also established on scientifically agreed principles and criteria for geographically defining zoning due to the presence of African swine fever laid out in the Commission Notice on the guidelines on the prevention, control and eradication of African swine fever in the Union (ASF guidelines), as well as taking account of international standards, such as the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and justifications for zoning provided by the competent authorities of the Member State concerned.

(9) Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594 was last amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2094 (6) following changes in the epidemiological situation as regards African swine fever in Finland, Hungary, and Poland.

(10) Since the date of adoption of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2094, Poland has notified the Commission of new outbreaks of African swine fever in kept and wild porcine animals. The epidemiological situation has improved for kept porcine animals in certain areas in Italy and Lithuania.

(11) In September 2026, an outbreak of African swine fever in kept porcine animals was observed in the Lubelskie region in Poland in an area currently listed as restricted zone II in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594. This new outbreak of African swine fever in kept porcine animals constitutes an increased level of risk, so the area of Poland currently listed as a restricted zone II and affected by that outbreak, should therefore now be listed as a restricted zone III in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, and the current boundaries of the restricted zones II and III should also be redefined to take account of that outbreak.

(12) In September 2026, an outbreak of African swine fever in a wild porcine animal was observed in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region in Poland in an area currently listed as restricted zone I in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594. This new outbreak of African swine fever in a wild porcine animal constitutes an increased level of risk, so the area of Poland currently listed as a restricted zone I and affected by that outbreak, should therefore now be listed as a restricted zone II in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, and the current boundaries of the restricted zones I and II should also be redefined to take account of that outbreak.

(13) In September 2026, an outbreak of African swine fever in a wild porcine animal was observed in the Podkarpackie region in Poland in an area currently listed as a restricted zone II in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, but in close proximity to an area currently listed as a restricted zone I in that Annex. This new outbreak of African swine fever in a wild porcine animal constitutes an increased level of risk, so the area of Poland currently listed as restricted zone I should therefore now be listed as a restricted zone II in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, and the current boundaries of the restricted zones I and II should also be redefined to take account of that outbreak.

(14) On the basis of the information and justification provided by Italy, and taking into account the effectiveness of the disease control measures being applied by that Member State in accordance with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687 for African swine fever for kept porcine animals in areas listed as restricted zone III in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, and in particular those measures foreseen in Articles 22, 25 and 40 thereof, and in line with the risk mitigation measures for African swine fever set out in the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code, a part of the Piedmont region in Italy, currently listed as a restricted zone III in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, should now be listed as a restricted zone II, due to the absence of African swine fever outbreaks in kept porcine animals in that restricted zone III for the past three months, while the disease is still present in wild porcine animals.

(15) On the basis of the information and justification provided by Lithuania, and taking into account the effectiveness of the disease control measures for African swine fever being applied by that Member State in accordance with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687 for kept porcine animals in an area listed as restricted zone III in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, and in particular those measures foreseen in Articles 22, 25 and 40 thereof, and in line with the risk mitigation measures for African swine fever set out in the WOAH Terrestrial Animal Health Code, an area in the Šiauliai region in Lithuania, currently listed as a restricted zone III in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594, should now be listed instead as restricted zone II in that Annex, due to the absence of African swine fever outbreaks in kept porcine animals for the past twelve months, while the disease is still present in wild porcine animals.

(16) Accordingly, in order to take account of these recent developments in the epidemiological situation concerning African swine fever in the Union, and to proactively combat the risks associated with a further spread of that disease, the entries concerning restricted zones in Italy, Lithuania and Poland set out in Annexes I and II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594 should be amended.

(17) As the situation as regards African swine fever is very dynamic in the Union, when demarcating these new restricted zones, account has also been taken of the epidemiological situation in areas surrounding these outbreaks.

(18) Given the urgency of the epidemiological situation in the Union as regards the serious risks of the spread of African swine fever, it is important that the amendments made by this Implementing Regulation to Annexes I and II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/594 take effect as soon as possible.

(19) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,