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| 23 Affected Provinces/Territories |
#13,760
Almost 5 months into their African Swine Fever epidemic, Chinese officials continue to tweak their response, struggling to find the right balance between strict containment and permitting the flow of essential food products to the market.
China is both the world's largest producer and the world's largest consumer of pork, and just five weeks before the Chinese Lunar New Year, the last thing Chinese officials want is a major domestic food crisis.Previously China's MOA Issued New Regulations On Commercial Pig Feed and in late October cited both feeding pigs swill (kitchen scraps) & Long Range Transport as prime factors in the spread of ASF.
In mid-November focus was directed more towards pig transport (see MOA Joint Statement On `Very Serious' Spread Of ASF), when the Ministry of Agriculture, in an unusual joint statement with the Ministry of Public Security (China's principal police and security agency) and the Ministry of Transport - citing both improper cleaning and disinfection of livestock transport vehicles and the illegal movement of pigs by `some lawless elements' - announced a coordinated crackdown by all three Ministries.
Overnight, in what appears to be a partial reversal of this hard line stance, China's MOA issued a new policy which will loosen some of the transportation restrictions on pigs in order to ensure the continued supply of pork to a hungry nation.
In part, breeders of pigs in regions without ASF outbreaks will be allowed to transport and sell livestock to other provinces, while breeders in counties where ASF outbreaks have occurred will be restricted to moving livestock within the affected province.Additionally, pigs produced under high biosecurity levels inside infected areas can be sold to specified slaughterhouses within the region.
I've excerpted some (translated) sections from the MOA announcement below:
Notice of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Regulating the Activities of Live Pigs and Pig Products
Date: 2018-12-27 00:00 Author: Source Veterinary Authority(Continue . . . )
Animal Husbandry and Veterinary (Agriculture, Rural, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry) Departments (Bureaus and Committees) of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau:
In order to implement the spirit of the national teleconference on strengthening the prevention and control of African swine fever on December 11th, further improve the prevention and control of African swine fever, and effectively guarantee the production of pigs and the supply of meat, and now regulate the African plague-stricken areas before the blockade is lifted. The notification of the distribution of live pigs and live pig products is as follows.
1. The county where the epidemic area is located (including the county-level city, district, and the same below) suspends the production of pigs and pig products from the county. The province where the epidemic area is located (including the autonomous region, municipality, and the same below) suspends the pigs from the province. Except for pigs and pig products that meet the following requirements.(1) Conditions that the breeding enterprise should meet:
2. If the pig breeding enterprises in the county where the epidemic area meets the following conditions, the pigs in the province may be transported to the slaughtering enterprises in a “point-to-point” manner, and the specific measures shall be stipulated by the provinces.
1. With independent legal person qualification, the farm that intends to adjust the birth of pigs has obtained the "Certificate of Animal Epidemic Prevention Conditions", and the epidemic prevention management system is sound, with full-time veterinary personnel.(2) Conditions that the slaughtering enterprise should meet:
2. It has a high level of biosafety. No major animal epidemic has occurred in the past three years. In the monitoring of major animal epidemic antibodies at the provincial and provincial levels, there is no situation below the national standards.
3. There is no capacity for slaughtering enterprises or existing slaughtering enterprises in the county.
4. Carry out the laboratory test of African swine fever according to the regulations. The test result is negative for African swine fever virus nucleic acid.
5. Sign a special supply production contract with the slaughtering enterprise.
1. Obtained the "Spot Slaughter License for Live Pigs".
2. The slaughter plant (field) to be transferred to the pigs will actually slaughter more than 150,000 pigs in 2017.
3. In the past three years, there was no bad record in product quality in relevant departments, and no banned drugs or prohibited additives were detected in the quality and safety supervision and inspection of agricultural products at the provincial and provincial levels.
4. It is inspected by the competent department of animal husbandry and veterinary at the provincial level and meets the requirements of the Regulations on Supervision and Inspection of Pig Slaughter Plants (Fields) (Agricultural Medicine issued [2016] No. 14).
5. The pigs can be slaughtered in batches according to the source of the live pigs.
3. The slaughtering enterprises in the county where the epidemic area meets the conditions listed in the second paragraph of the preceding paragraph may be transported within the province after their pig products have passed the test and quarantine of African swine fever.
4. The breeding pigs and commercial piglets in the county where the epidemic area is located (hogs with weights below 30 kg and 30 kg and used for fattening) can be transported within the province after passing the test and quarantine of African swine fever. After the pigs and commercial piglets outside the county where the epidemic area is located have passed the test of African piglets and passed the quarantine inspection, they can be transferred out of the province. All localities shall not obstruct the transportation of pigs and commercial piglets that have passed the test and quarantine of African piglets.
5. Pigs, commercial piglets and pigs that are transported in a “peer-to-peer” manner shall be quarantined according to the following procedures:
While ASF does not pose a direct threat to human health, it can be devastating to pork producers, and its further spread in China and across Asia could compromise already fragile food security in many regions
According to the FAO's most recent report, food insecurity and world hunger continue to increase, making agricultural diseases such as ASF, avian flu, FMD, and others important detriments to human health as well.
The 2018 State Of Food Security And Nutrition In The WorldAll of which make the progress of agricultural diseases like ASF, CSF, FMD, and others around the world very much worth tracking.
RECENT TRENDS IN HUNGER AND FOOD INSECURITY
KEY MESSAGES
- New evidence continues to point to a rise in world hunger in recent years after a prolonged decline. An estimated 821 million people – approximately one out of every nine people in the world – are undernourished.
- Undernourishment and severe food insecurity appear to be increasing in almost all regions of Africa, as well as in South America, whereas the undernourishment situation is stable in most regions of Asia.
- The signs of increasing hunger and food insecurity are a warning that there is considerable work to be done to make sure we “leave no one behind” on the road towards a world with zero hunger.
