https://static.agriculture.com/styles/node_article_image_full_large/s3/s3fs-public/image/2016/12/07/102284268.jpg?timestamp=1481150424

Japan suspends German pork imports after African swine fever case

14 Sep 2020, 02:19

TOKYO, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Japan suspended imports of pork and live pigs from Germany on Friday after a case of African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed in a wild boar in eastern Germany, the agriculture ministry said.

China and South Korea also banned such imports after Germany said last Thursday that ASF had been found in a dead wild boar near its border with Poland.

Japan's action aims to keep out the disease, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Pork imports of 40,240 tonnes from Germany last year accounted for 3.3% of Japan's total imports of 1.2 million tonnes of the meat, the ministry said. Japan did not import any live pigs in 2019, down from six in 2018. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)