June 30, 2010

 

 

Japan plans of lifting the domestic beef and pork shipments ban in July imposed two months ago on account of an FMD outbreak.

 

No cases have been found since the government completed culling infected animals last week.

 

Shipments of live animals from disease-hit areas in Miyazaki prefecture in southern Japan may resume as early as July 16, unless a fresh outbreak occurs, said Hiroaki Ogura at the animal health division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The government finished slaughtering all infected animals on June 25.

 

The resumption could boost meat supply in Japan, potentially curbing demand for imported pork and beef. Foot-and-mouth is one of the most contagious livestock diseases and can have high mortality rates in young animals, according to the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE.

 

"The risk of the disease's spread is declining. We plan to finish culling of the vaccinated animals today or tomorrow," Ogura said.

 

Japan is set to complete the slaughter of 276,049 animals, of which 199,293 were infected and the rest were vaccinated for protection from the disease. Of the total, 208,076 were pigs, 67,956 were beef cattle and dairy cows.

 

The figures represent 2.1% of Japan's total swine herd and 1.5% of overall cattle and cows. The country's first outbreak of the disease since 2000 was reported on April 20 from a cattle farm in Tsuno town in eastern Miyazaki.

 

Japan imposed a ban on the movements of animals that live within a radius of 10 kilometres from the affected farms. The government also prohibited shipments of animals living in a radius of 10-20 kilometres of the disease-hit farms for trade outside the area.

 

Japan slaughtered 1.47 million hogs in April to produce 114,300 tonnes of pork, the latest data from the agriculture ministry showed. The number dropped 1.8% from March, while the volume decreased 1.7%.

 

The wholesale price of pork averaged 428 yen (US$4.8) per kilogramme in Japan's meat markets in April, rising 1.9% from March, the ministry data showed.

 

"Foot-and-mouth disease has had limited impact on the balance of supply and demand in Japan's meat markets, as the affected animals represent a small share of the nation's total herd," Yuichi Imasaki of the ministry's meat and egg division said.

 

The number of cattle and cows Japan slaughtered in April rose 5.3% from March to 105,553, according to the ministry data. Beef production increased by 6.4% to 45,314 tonnes. The wholesale price for beef rose 6.5% to 1,067 yen a kilogramme on average in April.

 

Japan imported 475,000 tonnes of beef in the year ended March 31, climbing 1.2% from a year earlier, according to the ministry. Australia was the biggest supplier with 355,488 tonnes, while the US was the second-largest with 73,823 tonnes.

 

Japan imported 692,000 tonnes of pork last fiscal year, declining 15% from a year earlier. The US represented 40% of the total supply, while Canada was the second- largest exporter with 25%.