South Korea suspends pork imports from Germany over foot-and-mouth disease outbreak

By Phan Anh   January 14, 2025 | 03:00 am PT
South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture has imposed a ban on pork imports from Germany following a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the Brandenburg state.

In a statement released late last week, the ministry announced that all German pork products imported into South Korea since Dec. 27, 2024 will undergo FMD testing. Approximately 360 tons of pork are currently quarantined for examination, according to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA).

The outbreak was first detected in a buffalo herd in the town of Hönow, leading to the culling of several other cloven-hoofed animals in nearby areas as a preventive measure. These cases, confirmed late last week, are the first FMD incidents in Germany since 1988, The Korea Times reported.

The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) has identified the specific variant of the FMD virus involved, facilitating the rapid production of vaccines within days.

Before the recent ban, South Korea had imported around 106,000 tons of pork from Germany in 2019. Imports were halted from 2020 until spring 2023 due to an African swine fever outbreak.

Last year, Germany exported approximately 2.3 million tons of pork worldwide, with the majority destined for European markets, according to data from the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food.

 
 
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