Thai-Cambodian pig exports value jumps on Hong Kong's rejections

The monetary value of Thai pig exports to Cambodia increased by a staggering 35.2% between 2007 and 2009, according to reports, a jump analysts said coincided with Hong Kong's decision to reject Thai pigs.

Curtis Hundley, chief of party at USAID's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) agency, said the decision had probably been made in response to concerns about foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), but Hong Kong officials have not confirmed this.

"Almost all of the live pig exports were to Cambodia and Laos because the Thais cannot contain their FMD problem," Hundley said Tuesday, adding that a failed attempt by Thailand to expand pig exports in Hong Kong and China had left a huge number of animals in the feed lots.

"So instead of allowing all these pigs to enter and destroy the Thai markets, they simply ship them over to Cambodia," he said.

Andrew Stephens, a senior trade adviser at MSME, noted that it was not confirmed that Hong Kong had shunned Thai pigs because of disease concerns, though he said a dip in demand from China may have left Thai producers with "nowhere else to go.”

Hun Hean, the police chief for Banteay Meanchey province, where much cross-border trade between Thailand and Cambodia takes place, said Tuesday that roughly 450 Thai pigs are being transported into Cambodian each day, but noted that they are brought in by licensed companies.

Earlier this month, Svay Rieng Governor Chheang Am issued a statement instructing all relevant authorities, including those operating border checkpoints, to immediately cease all imports of pork and live pigs from Vietnam, in order to prevent a potential epidemic of diseases including FMD and porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome (PRRD).