August 10, 2010

Cambodia's pork sale crash on import ban

Plummeting demand following a ban on Thai and Vietnamese pig imports has driven half the pork vendors in Cambodia's Kampong Thom market to suspend sales.

Traders said the cost of diseased pork had dropped to 2,000 riels per kilogramme, but that ordinary pork maintained its average cost of 15,000 riels per kilogramme.

Srun Pov, head of the Cambodian Pig Raisers Association, said that the outbreak of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), or blue ear disease, was under control after border authorities blocked imports from Vietnam and Thailand.

"Besides the ban, we also explained to all pig feeders how to protect their pigs from contracting the disease like cleaning the pens and putting antibiotics in their food," and many pig-sellers had themselves postponed buying pigs until the disease was eradicated, Pov said.

He suggested that the ban might be lifted next month, with the aim of resuming imports from Thailand-where the outbreak had been more serious than in Vietnam.