New Zealand fears that ASF may reach its territory
New Zealand imports 60% of the pork consumed in the domestic market and that percentage has worried the industry representatives that African Swine Fever could easily spread across the country. New Zealand Pork chairman Eric Roy said the industry was asking for the Government to step up surveillance of the spread of the disease and consider more stringent controls of pork imported from affected countries. "The major risk to our industry is that infected meat gets into the hobby farmer pig population through the feeding of uncooked food scraps, a practice that is banned but can still occur when hobby farmers are unaware of the risks. Our wild population could also come into contact with food waste, which is a major problem in Europe.
This is particularly important given that New Zealand is trading pork with the EU sector under virtually identical rules that apply to inter-EU trade – standards which have done nothing to stop the continuing spread of the disease through Europe", explained Roy. New Zealand pork industry generates over $750 million a year and an outbreak could be catastrophic for the sector.
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) said any pork imported from countries in Europe in which ASF had been reported, had to be treated to inactivate the disease. Exporters had to meet New Zealand's import health standard for human consumption before it could land in the country, informs Stuff.co.nz.
So far, pork imports from China have been maintained at 53 tonnes and an MPI spokeswoman said the heat processes required before import from China were extremely high processing steps – higher than the international heat treatment standard to mitigate ASF.
"This processing kills all the agents that cause diseases of concern for New Zealand (foot and mouth disease, avian diseases, and swine viruses included) in any highly processed meat. These processed meats are mainly canned foods, and are the only meats imported from China," the spokeswoman said.
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