April 26, 2021

German agriculture minister assures Chinese counterpart that pig population is still ASF-free

 
Germany's Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, Julia Klöckner, and her Chinese counterpart, Tang Renjian, have met via videoconference this month to discuss current issues in agricultural relations.

During the bilateral meeting, they discussed, among other things, the effects of African swine fever (ASF) on trade. Klöckner explained the current situation in Germany, emphasising that Germany's pig population remains free of ASF and that the outbreak is limited locally in two federal states, exclusively in wild boar.

Both ministers agreed to hold concrete meetings concerning ASF at an expert level in both countries as soon as possible.

According to Klöckner, the objective is getting "an agreement to resume trade. That is why the agreement on intensive negotiations in a German-Chinese expert group is an important step."

- BEML (Germany)