Singapore bans Japanese meats over FMD outbreak

Stocks of the Japanese premium meats - wagyu beef and kurobuta pork, which experts say are far superior than those produced elsewhere, have either run dry or are very low in Singapore, following a ban on their import by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

The agency's action in late April is in response to the worst outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Japan in 100 years.

The supply of Japanese wagyu, especially popular in high-end Japanese restaurants and Japanese supermarkets in Singapore, has been anything but robust in the last decade. Supplies were first cut in 2001, when the mad cow disease scare enveloped Japan. This ban was lifted amid much fanfare only a year ago, the same time Japanese kurobuta pork first became available in the country.

Although the FMD virus does not affect humans, the AVA said it moved to ban Japanese beef and pork this year because the virus is highly contagious among cloven-hoofed animals, causing them fevers, blisters and sometimes death. The ban will safeguard Singapore's goat and cattle populations in farms in areas such as Lim Chu Kang.

AVA spokesman Goh Shih Yong said the agency is working with the Japanese authorities to identify specific stricken areas in Japan.

"In the meantime, Japan is suspended from exporting beef and pork to Singapore," he said, explaining that the agency did not inform the public about the ban when it was imposed because it was not a food-safety risk.

The outbreak in Japan's Miyazaki prefecture, an agricultural region in Japan's main island of Kyushu, has led to the culling of tens of thousands of cattle and pigs. The calves from this area would otherwise have been sent to other parts of Japan, including areas which produce the famous wagyu beef for export.

Singapore imported 21 tonnes of the premium beef and nine tonnes of pork from Japan last year to meet the niche demand here. These make up less than 1% of all beef and pork imports here.