S. Korean companies to resume pork exports to Japan

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korean food companies will resume pork exports
to Japan after being shut out of the market for nine years, the government said
Friday.

Hanil Farm Co. and Dongbang Co. have officially received permission to ship
heat-processed pork products to Japan after meeting rigorous quality management
standards, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
Tokyo halted all Korean pork imports in the wake of Seoul's confirmation that
animals have been infected by foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever in 2000.
Both diseases are highly contagious to livestock and can result in import bans.
The ministry said products like ham and pork cutlet meat made by these companies
after Thursday can be shipped to Japan. Hanil and Dongbang have the capability to
ship up to 1,200 tons of processed pork annually.
"The move is expected to help fuel demand for local pork, which has struggled to
compete with an influx of cheap imports from countries like Chile and the United
States," a government official said.
He said that the ministry plans to engage in talks with Japanese officials to
help other local companies ship pork products to the neighboring country.
Japan's domestic market for processed pork stands at 500,000 tons per year, with
400,000 tons being imported meat from such countries as the United States, China
and Canada.
The ministry in charge of the country's agriculture policies, meanwhile, said
Hong Kong has lifted its ban on Korean chicken meat as of Thursday.
Hong Kong halted all imports following the outbreak of bird flu in April 2008.
South Korea shipped 186 tons of meat for the whole of 2007 and 263 tons in the
first four months of last year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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