April 7, 2014
China bans imports of US live pigs amid PEDv concerns
Amid concerns about a fatal swine virus, China has imposed tougher restrictions for imports of live pigs from the US, according to the USDA and livestock-industry officials.
China, the world''s largest consumer of pork, has asked the USDA to conduct testing and provide certification that live hogs come from herds that are free of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDv), an agency spokesman said. The disease has spread to nearly 30 US states and killed millions of young pigs since it was identified in the country last spring, according to industry estimates.
Live hogs represent a relatively small portion of pork-related US exports to China. The Asian nation last year bought 14,000 hogs, valued at US$20 million, according to the USDA. In contrast, exporters shipped US$703.5 million of fresh pork to the country, according to the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
A spokesman for the USDA''s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said the agency "is both capable and willing" to comply with China''s new requirement for testing and certification. But, he said, the government also would "continue to work with the Chinese" to try to eliminate the requirement.
Some US livestock exporters said that China had denied permits for live-hog imports from the US until the USDA implemented the testing and certification procedures.
April hog futures, the front-month contract, declined US$0.026 to US$1.2315 a pound at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), representing 2.19% drop. Traders said China''s restrictions added to a broader negative tone in the market driven by concerns that US retailers'' demand for pork products is cooling after a recent surge in prices. US wholesale porkprices fell this past week, indicating retailers may be curbing purchases because it is difficult to pass along higher costs to consumers, analysts said. Hog futures hit a record Tuesday (Apr 2), fuelled by concerns that the virus will crimp US pork supplies.
Scientists say the virus, which is closely related to a strain found in China in 2012, is fatal only to young pigs and poses no threat to human health or food safety. Typically, live hogs shipped from the US to China are breeding animals that help supply pigs for the country''s commercial pork industry, said Jay Truitt, a representative for the Livestock Exporters Association of the USA, a trade group in Washington.