Chilean pork shipments to South Korea may be banned

A pork shipment found with nearly three times the permissible levels of dioxin residue may cause Chilean pork exports to be banned from South Korea.

Chile is the second largest pork exporter to South Korea, the largest being the US.

South Korea's Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has reported that residue inspections found 5.4 picogrammes of dioxin in 6.2 tonnes of frozen pork imported from Chile late last month.

Korea's permissible level of dioxin is 2 picogramnes. One picogram is equivalent to one trillionth of a gram.

The discovery comes barely a month after an excess level of dioxin was discovered in a separate shipment on July 3.

Seoul quarantine authorities have notified the pork exporter to halt shipments and will strengthen inspections, reports the Digital Chosun.

A ministry official says if the tests point to a problem with Chilean pork across the board, Seoul can enact a complete ban.

Chile exported 45,060 tonnes of pork to South Korea last year.