January 29, 2015
Disease outbreaks pull down South Korea's meat exports
Outbreaks of bird flu and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) caused exports of poultry and fresh pork to plunge in 2014, government data showed.
According to data by KoreaAgro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation and the farm ministry, exports of fresh duck meat nosedived 88.7% to 751.8 tons, with nearly zero processed duck meat export shipments.
For chicken, exports fell 28.2% year-on-year to 17,445 tons, with processed products dipping 4.7%.
For fresh pork, official figures showed exports plunging 35.6% year-on-year, but the drop was offset by the 74.6% surge in processed products such as bacon and luncheon meats.
The farm ministry said that with sporadic outbreaks of bird flu and FMD being reported across the country in the new year, meat exports may experience further setbacks.
"Unless the outbreaks come under control soon, past efforts to export meats to Russia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan may come to naught, hurting local farms," an official said.