Quarantine for German pork: South Korea draws consequences!

Quarantine for German pork: South Korea draws consequences!

In a drastic step, South Korea banned all imports of German pork due to a outbreak of the mouth and claw disease (MKS) in the German Brandenburg. The South Korean Ministry of Agriculture announced that the regulation comes into force immediately after the virus was demonstrated in rehearsals of water buffalos from Hönow, a city near Berlin. Around 360 tons of German pork are currently faced with a quarantine examination and are not allowed to pass the limit due to this situation, as the APA news agency reported.

As part of the safety precautions, extensive virus tests are also carried out on all pork products delivered to South Korea since December 27. The Friedrich Loeffler Institute (Fli) has confirmed that a suitable vaccine against the MKS could be available within a few days. These rapid measures are of great importance because South Korea is an important market for pork for Germany. In 2019, South Korea imported around 106,000 tons before imports were stopped due to a previous outbreak of the African swine fever. Since then, exports have only slowly recovered, and the new restrictions could continue to make the situation more difficult, such as "https://www.focus.de/finance/boerse/maul-und-klauenseucheeucheuch--sued-schweinfleischporte-aus-deutschland_260627739.html"> foCus.de reported.

consequences for the European market

In addition to the import restrictions, the Netherlands also reacted by imposing a nationwide ban on transport for calves. This happens to minimize possible risks of spreading the MKS, although there is no direct detection of infections in the Netherlands. According to information from Wien.at , over 3,600 calves have been transported from the affected area in Brandenburg to the Netherlands, which explained the precautionary measures. The development of the situation remains tense, while German exports have been declining for years and last year was around 2.3 million tons. The latest events are thus burdening the already fragile export sector.