TRADE MINISTER TO BAN PIG IMPORTS TEMPORARILY

Jakarta, April 28 (ANTARA) - The Trade Ministry will soon issue a temporary ban on pig imports from countries affected by the swine flu virus (H1N1), a trade official said.

"The Trade Ministry is now drafting the ministerial decree," Trade Ministry Secretary General Ardiansyah Parman said here on Tuesday.

He said the trade ministry's ban would be enforced temporarily or while the swine flu disease was sill spreading.

So far, Indonesia has been importing meat and cattle from Australia and Zealand.

Previously, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono said he had issued a circular in connection with the plan to ban the import of meat and pigs.

"A coordination meeting at the office of the coordinating minister for people's welfare has decided to temporarily stop pig imports from swine flu affected countries," Aprintono said.

Chief Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie said on Monday that Indonesia had decided to stop importing pigs for the time being or until safe conditions had been restored.

The coordination meeting was held to discuss efforts to anticipate the possible spread of swine influenza in the country.

The minister said information on the decision to stop the importation of pigs would soon be conveyed to the trade ministry for its implementation.

Bakrie said the decision was taken as part of efforts to increase alertness over the swine influenza virus which was suspected of being able to mutate into a strain that could be communicated from man to man.

Previously, World Health Organization (WHO) director general Margaret Chan had declared the swine influenza outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHIC) based on a recommendation from its Emergency Committee.

According to data available at the WHO, up to April 26, a total of 20 swine influenza cases have been found in the United States, of which eight were in New York, seven in California, two in Texas, two in Kansas and one in Ohio.***2***