South Korea bans pork imports from Germany after African swine fever case

South Korea banned imports of pork from Germany on Thursday after a case of African swine fever was confirmed in a wild boar in eastern Germany, the South Korean agriculture ministry said.

The agriculture ministry said the ban will apply to pork leaving Germany from Sept. 10 onwards. Pork already en route from Germany will be subject to African swine fever checks on arrival in South Korea, it said.

Imports of pork from Germany amounted to about 18% of the 421,190 tonnes of pork that South Korea imported last year, the ministry said in a statement.

In 2019, South Korea had an outbreak of African swine fever, recording at least 14 cases of the deadly hog disease, which prompted the culling of more than 145,000 pigs to contain the virus.

By Sangmi Cha