EU Criticizes Blanket Bans on German Pork by China, Three Others
EU Criticizes Blanket Bans on German Pork by China, Three Others
(Bloomberg) -- The European Union said China, Japan, South Korea and Mexico should ease bans on the import of German pork by allowing shipments from parts of Germany unaffected by a pig-killing disease.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said the blanket prohibitions by the four countries as a result of an outbreak of African swine fever in Germany breach World Trade Organization rules. German and EU measures taken to ensure meat from the affected area stays there mean pork from other parts of the country is safe, according to the commission.
“Any country-wide blockage of imports of pork from the whole territory of an affected EU member state imposed by a trading partner is considered more trade restrictive than necessary and not justified from a sanitary point of view,” the Brussels-based commission said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
The commission is seeking to keep pork markets around the world open to Germany after livestock prices dropped as a result of the African swine fever outbreak in the country last week. The affected German area is near the border with Poland.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.