Several countries have blocked imports of Swedish pork. This is after a recent outbreak of African swine fever in wild boars in the Scandinavian country.
ScandAsia could report, that Taiwan banned the import of Swedish pork on Sunday, September 10. Since, industry officials stated on Monday, that more countries have followed suit. These includes Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines and Singapore.
The ban of Swedish pork imports is despite the fact that the disease has only been detected in wild boars, the Swedish Meat Industry Association told AFP.
“The meat poses no danger. I think it’s unreasonable, but this is standard procedure for when African swine flu is detected,” managing director, Magnus Darth, told AFP.
Seven cases of the disease have been detected in dead wild boars since September 6, northwest of Stockholm. The disease does not affect humans but is highly contagious and fatal for pigs. An outbreak is potentially damaging for the pork industry, according to experts.
Swedish authorities have blocked public access to forest and wildlife areas around the zone where the infected boars were found
Sweden exports around 30,000 tons of pork each year. The import stop is expected to lead a loss of income of 50 million SEK ($4.5 million) per year.
Source: barrons.com
