SAO PAULO (Reuters) — Brazil will not ban pig imports after the outbreak of a deadly virus in the United States but will intensify tests and quarantine requirements on live pigs arriving from abroad, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.
The country’s pork industry had asked the government to stop all imports from the United States to keep Brazil free of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.
Pigs will be allowed to enter Brazil, but only with the ministry’s approval and a minimum 30-day quarantine.
“All import approvals will be subject to very technical requirements in order to prevent this disease from entering, contaminating or proliferating in Brazil,” Agriculture Minister Neri Geller told journalists.
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The agriculture ministry is also planning to send a delegation to the United States to evaluate sanitary conditions, the ministry said in a statement.
Brazil is not a major pig importer but the domestic pork industry argued that if any sick animals enter the country up to 20 million local pigs destined for slaughter could die.
“The best way to prevent this is not to bring them here,” said Rui Vargas, vice president in charge of pork for Brazil’s Association of Animal Protein.
The virus, nearly always fatal in piglets, has crimped hog supplies in the United States and sent prices to record highs. There are more than 4,700 cases in 27 states so far, according to the U.S. government. Some estimates suggest four to five million pigs have died since it was first reported in May 2013.
China and Japan last week were the first countries to officially notify the United States they had imposed temporary restrictions on imports of live pigs last week. The top importers of live pigs from the United States are China, Mexico and Russia, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
