The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has required authorities in cities and provinces across Vietnam to facilitate the transport and consumption of domestically-made pork, according to reports.

Domestic sales of pork have been stagnant in recent month as more and more consumers halted buying the meat on the spread of blue-ear disease, the ministry's Department of Livestock Husbandry said at recent meeting to seek ways to boost domestic pork consumption.

The disease reduced pork consumption in Hanoi by between 30%-40%, and pig and pork prices by 15%, said Nguyen Thanh Son, deputy head of the department.

The slow consumption and sinking prices of pork are hitting local farmers who are seeking to sell non-diseased pigs while facing the flooding of imported meats, he added.

Vietnam produces around 290,000-300,000 tonnes of pigs monthly, Son said, predicting that around 1.77 million tonnes of pigs need consuming in the first half of 2010, up 3.5% on-year.

Meanwhile, the country imports of meats jumped 20% from a year earlier to 50,000 tonnes in the Jan-May period, 95% of which was frozen pork.

Domestic market management team forecast that pork prices will continue decreasing next month, while prices of other kinds of foods will increase.

Blue-ear disease, which has spread to 15 cities and provinces in Vietnam, affected nearly 138,427 pigs as of May 28, half of which was dead or destroyed.