African Swine Fever in Germany, China Stops Imports
BERLIN, GERMANY – Last week, Germany’s Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture confirmed an African swine fever (ASF) case in a wild boar found in Eastern Germany near the German-Polish border. The first ASF case in Germany jeopardizes $867 million in exports to China, which will likely result in increased pork exports from other major suppliers, including the United States. ASF was not entirely unexpected, given the recent rise of cases in Western Poland. However, the confirmed case will be devastating for the German pork sector which is still reeling from the COVID-19 crisis, including slaughter facility disruptions stemming from outbreaks among its workers, excess supply, declining consumption, trade disruptions, and depressed prices. On Saturday, China officially banned all pork imports from its third-largest supplier. In 2019, German producers supplied about one-seventh of China’s pork imports.
(SOURCE Foreign Agriculture Service)