Nodular Dermatitis in Italy 2026: What Changes for Cattle Trade

Key data

Operators in the cattle sector working with Italian livestock have an urgent regulatory change to review. Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/922, in force since 24 April 2026, updates the annexes of Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1582 and modifies the map of Italian zones with restrictions due to contagious nodular dermatitis (CND).

CND is a viral disease that affects exclusively cattle and can cause serious economic losses in the livestock sector: animal mortality, decline in milk and meat production, and blockade of trade in live animals and their products. The EU acts with emergency measures to prevent the virus from spreading to the rest of the European livestock herd.

What does this regulation establish?

This decision does not create new regulation from scratch: it modifies the annexes of Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1582, which already established emergency measures against CND in Italy. The specific change is the revision of the map of affected Italian geographical zones.

The emergency measures in force include:

• Restrictions on the movement of cattle within and outside affected zones in Italy.
• Restrictions on the marketing of animal products from those zones.
• Obligation of strict compliance by operators in the cattle sector located in restricted zones.

The update of the annexes means that the geographical zones subject to these restrictions may have changed compared to those established in Decision (EU) 2025/1582. Operators must consult the updated annexes to know which Italian territories are currently under restriction.

Economic and operational impact

Contagious nodular dermatitis is not a minor disease from an economic perspective. At sector level, a movement restriction on animals can paralyze buying and selling operations, block exports and generate direct losses due to immobilization of livestock stock.

For Spanish operators, the impact is mainly indirect but real:

• Importers of Italian cattle: any batch from a restricted zone is blocked or subject to special conditions. An error in verifying the origin could result in rejection of the batch at the border or at destination.
• Spanish exporters to Italy: movement restrictions within Italy can hinder the distribution of animals once delivered in Italian territory.
• Slaughterhouses and meat industry: animal products from restricted zones are also affected, which can impact the beef supply chain.
• Cattle dairy sector: CND directly affects milk production, with possible implications for operators working with milk of Italian origin.

Who does it affect?

• Cattle farmers located in the Italian geographical zones included in the updated annexes of Decision (EU) 2026/922.
• European operators — including Spanish — who buy or sell live cattle from Italy.
• Companies importing animal products (meat, milk, derivatives) from restricted Italian zones.
• Slaughterhouses and processing plants working with livestock of Italian origin.
• Hauliers and logistics operators in the cattle sector with routes including affected zones in Italy.
• Official veterinarians and animal health services managing intra-community livestock movements.

Practical example

A Spanish company dedicated to importing breeding cattle has planned to purchase a batch of calves from a farm located in a region in northern Italy. Before closing the operation and processing the health documentation, the purchasing manager must verify whether that Italian region is listed in the updated annexes of Decision (EU) 2026/922.

If the area of origin is included in the restrictions, the movement of those animals to Spain would be blocked or subject to additional requirements. Closing the operation without this prior verification could result in rejection of the animals at the border control point, with the costs of return, quarantine or slaughter that this entails, in addition to administrative liability for non-compliance with emergency measures.

The correct action is to consult the current annexes before any cattle purchase and sale contract with origin in Italy.

What should companies do now?

1. Consult the updated annexes of Decision (EU) 2026/922 to identify which geographical zones in Italy are currently under movement restrictions on animals and animal products.
2. Review all ongoing or planned operations with cattle or animal products from Italy, verifying whether the origin matches any restricted zone.
3. Suspend or condition any purchase and sale contract of Italian cattle until confirming that the area of origin is not affected by current restrictions.
4. Inform the logistics and transport team about movement restrictions to avoid incidents in transit or at veterinary control points.
5. Establish an origin verification protocol for all operations with cattle of Italian origin, including periodic consultation of possible new regulatory updates.
6. Consult with the official veterinarian or competent authority in case of doubt about whether a specific operation is affected by the restrictions.