Spain halts pork exports to China following ASF outbreak
The discovery of the African Swine Fever virus could threaten Spain's pork exports to China, which have grown due to Madrid's efforts to court Beijing and gain market share. However, any ban might be limited, as China and Spain signed an agreement this month which would mean Beijing will restrict imports only from an affected region, rather than from all of Spain.
Spain is the leading pork producer in the EU, accounting for approximately a quarter of the bloc's production, ahead of Germany, with annual pork exports worth around $3.5 billion euros.
Emilio Garcia, Director General of the Department of Agri-food Production and Animal Welfare, told journalists that the implemented measure is in line with the recent bilateral protocol signed with Beijing. As soon as China declares that the protocol has been activated, exports from the regions unaffected by the virus can be resumed.
Barcelona is in the Catalonia region, which accounts for approximately 7% of the country's pig farms, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture.
"This is not good news. The European market is already affected after prices dropped by 20% since July. There is a risk of an embargo in Asia, especially in China, against the biggest pork producer in the EU", commented Jean-Paul Simier, an analyst at the French company Cyclope.
The Ministry reported that it has notified the European Union and activated emergency measures in the affected zone, urging pig farms to tighten security measures while investigators look into the source of the infection.
African Swine Fever, which is harmless to humans but highly contagious and deadly to pigs, has been spreading westward across Europe in recent years. The spread of the disease in Germany disrupted that country's large pork industry after many foreign markets imposed restrictions on German imports. In recent months, Croatia has also been trying to limit a spread of the fever to pig farms.
The disease, which has spread from Africa to Europe and Asia, has killed hundreds of millions of pigs, affecting global meat markets.
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