News African swine fever
Vietnam approaches Russia for pork
Vietnam is diligently looking for pork, due to the outbreak of African swine fever, and has therefore entered into an agreement with Russia. At the same time, Hong Kong is investigating whether it can import more pork from Southeast Asia and China expects pork imports to reach 3 million tons this year.
Russia and Vietnam have signed a trade agreement for pork exports, the Russian government authorities have reported. With this agreement, Russia can move larger quantities of pork and by-products towards Vietnam export. That country has been struggling with a meat shortage for months as a result of the outbreak of African swine fever.
The Ministry of Agriculture in Russia previously announced that it expected pork exports could increase by more than 2019% in 20 to around 100.000 tons. At the moment, the country mainly exports pork to Hong Kong, Vietnam and the former Soviet Union. In the long term, Russia also sees an opportunity for export to China, Japan and South Korea.
Chinese imports to 3 million tons
A new report from Reuters shows that China will have to import considerably more pork this year as a result of the outbreaks of African swine fever. These outbreaks have reduced the pig population in the country by almost 50%. The figures expect that pork imports this year will amount to at least 3 million tons. Total imports of meat, including poultry and beef, are reported to be 6 million tons.
Hong Kong is also looking for pork and is therefore investigating the possibility of importing live pigs from other Southeast Asian countries (such as Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea). Currently 1.700 pigs are imported from China every day, up from just over 4.000 previously (before the African swine fever outbreaks).
Waiting for vaccine
It is therefore a setback that Australian scientists recently wrote that it will take at least another 5 years before a vaccine against African swine fever is developed. "Until then, it is only possible to rely on traditional methods of disease control, such as culling infected pigs, burying carcasses and disinfecting farms," the researchers said.
Kimberly Baker
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