PARIS (Reuters) — France will ban imports of live pigs, pig by-products and pig sperm from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan to combat porcine epidemic diarrhea.
The virus has killed millions of piglets in North America and Asia.
The ban aims to protect France from PED, which has killed seven million young pigs since first being identified in the U.S. almost a year ago.
The disease has reduced hog supplies in the U.S. and sent prices to record highs.
“This disease worries us because the economic consequences would be dramatic if it hit our farms, in Europe and notably in France,” said Jean-Luc Angot, deputy director general and chief veterinary officer at the French farm ministry.
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France is not a significant importer of live pigs and sperm but does import some feed containing pig byproducts, Angot said.
Animal feed has been suspected as a transmission factor of the disease in the U.S.
Blood products such as pig plasma are commonly fed to piglets after they have been weaned, which spreads the disease, said Bernard Vallat, head of the World Organization for Animal Health.
France’s ban did not include pork meat and other products for human consumption because the disease is not dangerous to humans, Angot said.
France is the first EU country to restrict imports of U.S. pigs. China, the world’s No. 1 pork consumer, and Japan have already imposed “temporary restrictions” on U.S. pig imports until their ministries reach deals with the U.S. on testing animals, a trade group said.
Angot said he had presented the proposal to the European Commission at a meeting last month with experts from other EU member states.
He said major pork producers such as Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark were interested, but the EU executive did not accept the idea to ban imports.
“It is a suspension while waiting for a European decision,” he said, adding he was still confident an EU-wide move could be adopted because of the risks if the virus were to enter the bloc.
“When you see the numbers, there is a reason to be worried. There are few diseases that have such a high mortality rate at such a large scale,” Angot said.
