Jeju Island expected to resume pork exports to Japan this year

SEOUL, July 24 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean island of Jeju is expected to resume
its pork exports to Japan soon, as the Japanese government decided Friday to
recognize the island as a swine fever "clean" area, government officials said.

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the resumption
will likely take place within the second half of this year.
Japan's decision came after it banned all Jeju pork imports in November 2004 when
a swine fever vaccine antibody was discovered on the island.
Since then, the farm ministry and the Jeju regional government have stepped up
efforts to halt the use of vaccines that can make it hard to determine if an
outbreak of the disease takes place, and to tighten monitoring for violations.
Swine fever is contagious and can cause damages for pork farmers.
South Korea and Japan have engaged in four rounds of working-level talks since
October 2007, with Japanese officials visiting the resort island to check quality
control systems and the health of livestock.
Before the ban went into effect, South Korea as a whole had shipped around US$300
million worth of pork to its neighbor annually.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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