Despite ASF, Vietnam and Singapore will import German pork

After 6 months of negotiations in order to apply the principle of regionalization on African swine fever, Germany has been able to resume pork exports to several countries in Asia. The ban was introduced in September 2020 after the country reported the first case of ASF in the wild boar population.

This week, the Vietnamese authorities decided to ease restrictions on the import of German pork because the ASF virus was not detected on farms. Previously, the application of regionalization to MEAT imports from Germany was also reported in Singapore. Both countries have signed a Free Trade Agreement with the EU.

"Now there is hope in the meat industry that the restoration of trade with Vietnam can open up new markets in the region. The situation in the pig market is noticeably improving," the German Pig Breeders' Association commented.

However, access to the Chinese market, the largest importer of German pork in 2020, as well as the Philippine market is still blocked. Talks are underway to resume trade with CHINA and Japan, a country that has recently opened its market to Hungarian pork, although Hungary has a worse ASF situation than Germany.