Vietnam ups pork imports amid blue-ear disease scare

The volume of pork imported in the first five months of 2010 increased by 20% as more Vietnamese consumers, who worry about the blue-ear pig disease, now favour imported products.

 

According to Nguyen Thanh Son, Deputy Director of the Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total volume of meat imports to Vietnam in the first five months reached 50,000 tonnes, 95% of which was frozen pork.

 

The imports came mainly from European countries such as Belgium, Denmark (85%), Hong Kong (13%), the US (1%) and Thailand, China and Japan.

 

Prior to the disease outbreak, the Ministry of Finance increased import tariffs on frozen meat to protect domestic producers. Son noted that Vietnam is considering technical barriers on frozen meat imports to ensure food hygiene.

 

According to the Department of Animal Health under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, 135,000 pigs have suffered from the blue-ear disease. It will be impossible to increase pig herds by 10% over the previous year as targeted. In the first five months, the increase has been only 3%.

 

Pork prices have plummeted, making pig breeders suffer, while many farms are on the verge of bankruptcy. The price of pigs bred by households has decreased by VND8,000 (US$0.42) per kilogramme, or 24% to VND17,000-18,000 (US$0.90-$0.95) per kg, while the price of farmed pigs has also dropped to VND24,000-26,000 (US$1.27-$1.37) per kg.

 

This is because purchasing power at city markets has decreased by 30-40%. While wholesale prices dropped sharply, the retail price has not decreased significantly.