February 2, 2006

South Korea bans pork from Belgium and Netherlands

South Korea has banned pork imports from Belgium and the Netherlands to safeguard against possible dioxin contamination.

The move came after cancer-causing dioxin was discovered in Belgian animal feed products delivered to a company in the Netherlands, said an official at the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service in the Netherlands.

Belgium's Food Agency confirmed a ban has been enforced. It is having talks with the South Korean authorities to resume trade.

Food Agency spokesman Pascal Houbaert said the contamination was on a very limited scale and added that the Belgian authorities are still investigating the case.

In the Netherlands, authorities have quarantined 275 businesses that have received feed from the farm where the dioxin was discovered. The authorities are also checking on whether any of these companies had delivered products to other businesses.

In 2005, South Korea imported about 28,000 tonnes of pork from Belgium and the Netherlands. This was more than 10 percent of South Korea's pork imports.