Taiwan says it will screen all luggage belonging to travelers from Germany
China, Japan and the Philippines will join South Korea in banning pork imports from Germany after the European country reported its first case of African swine fever (ASF) last week.
Germany’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture said last week that the country’s first case of ASF had been confirmed in a wild boar in the eastern region. Soon after the announcement, South Korea announced a ban on pork imports from Germany – Europe’s biggest pork exporter – and China, Japan and the Philippines also announced bans over the weekend.
Germany is China’s third largest supplier of pork, with a value of approximately EUR1 billion (US$1.2 billion). China’s own ASF situation the past two years has resulted in pork shortages and record prices in the country.
The Philippines’ ban requires all shipments of pigs, pork and pork products from Germany to be confiscated by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry veterinary quarantine officers at all major ports of entry.
Japan has also banned German pork imports. In 2019, German pork accounted for 3.3% of Japan’s total imports, i.e. 1.2 million tons of meat.
In addition to bans implemented by South Korea, Japan, China and the Philippines, Taiwan said it would begin screening the luggage of all arrivals from Germany, and fines will be issued to anyone who attempts to bring pork or pork products into the country. First-time offenders will be fined NT$200,000 (US$6,722), while repeat offenses will increase to a fine of NT$1 million. Travelers unable to pay the fine will be denied entry, according to Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Center for African swine fever.
Germany’s discovery of the ASF-infected animal was in a dead wild boar found near the border with Poland which has had multiple outbreaks of the disease, including a recent one at a farm of 600 pigs in a community that borders Germany. In an ongoing attempt to keep ASF from entering Germany from Poland, it has built hundreds of miles of fencing along the border between the two countries. Since the discovery, a nine-mile quarantine area has been established to search for additional affected animals to restrict the movement of farm animals.
Edited to add Japanese ban on German pork imports.
View our continuing coverage of the African swine fever outbreak.
