S. Korea resumes pork exports to Japan

JEJU, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Jeju island has resumed pork exports to
Japan for the first time in nearly five years, local government officials said
Monday.

Officials from the island province off South Korea's southern coast said 21 tons
of fresh pork worth 143 million won (US$119,000) were loaded onto a 2,500t
freighter earlier in the day that will be sent directly to Tokyo.
The pork were processed by the local livestock cooperative and other meat
processing companies that met rigorous quality and safety standards.
Exports from Jeju were halted in November 2004 after animals at a pig farm tested
positive for a banned hog cholera vaccine. Vaccines are discouraged because they
make it impossible to tell if an animal or region has been affected by the
contagious disease.
Since the discovery, which effectively barred exports, authorities have isolated
the 5,000-6,000 animals that showed traces of the vaccine until all have been
butchered with extra precautions being taken to check all feed used for pigs
raised on the resort island.
Jeju has since been classified as a "hog cholera free zone" by Japan in July with
three rounds of talks undertaken by the two sides to establish new quarantine and
inspection guidelines that could permit pork trade.
Because Jeju lies very close to Japan, pork shipped from the island takes just
four days to reach the neighboring country compared to over 20 days for that sent
from the United States and Denmark. The shorter delivery times translates into
greater competitiveness.
Related to the shipment, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries said that exports to Japan may help local pig farmers find overseas
outlet for their products in the future. South Korea's pork industry stood at 4.1
trillion won in 2008, second only to rice in terms output generated by farmers,
but livestock owners have been hurt by the influx of cheap imports.
Besides the resumption of exports of fresh Jeju pork, two local food companies on
the mainland have won the right to ship processed pork products to Japan. The
first shipments of processed pork are expected to take place in October.
In 1999, the country exported $339.8 million worth of pork mainly to Japan, but
the total plunged $10.4 million last year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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