China allows in the export Russian pork supplies

By Rhod Mackenzie

The General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China has lifted restrictions on the export of pork from Russia introduced in 2008, the press service of Rosselkhoznadzor reported.
"The General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China has approved the delivery of pork from Russia. The decision was made based on the results of a risk assessment and analysis of the state control system for African swine fever (ASF) in Russia," the administration said in a statement.

"Restrictions on the import of pork from Russia previously imposed by the current General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Ministry of Agriculture of the People's Republic of China by Notification No 125 of 2008 are no longer applicable," it added. It is clarified that the inspection and quarantine requirements for Russian pork exported to China will be formulated separately by the State Customs Administration of the People's Republic of China.

The restrictions that were introduced in 2008 were linked to the spread of African swine fever in the Russian Federation. These issues have been one of the main obstacles to the restoring of access for Russian pork to the Chinese market. Rosselkhoznadzor reported the day before that Russia and China had made significant progress in organising access for Russian pork to China, and that the Chinese side would soon publish a notice on the adoption of Russian regionalisation on African swine fever - i.e. allowing supplies from regions without ASF.

The ministry stresses that for 10 years, since 2013, it has carried out extensive work to ensure the entry of pork products to the Chinese market. The multi-stage procedure included a process of negotiations, including within the framework of specialised bilateral working groups, as well as the organisation of visits by Chinese representatives to Russia to familiarise themselves with the instruments of state control over the safety of pork products and the prevention of the spread of ASF. The activities of research institutes and laboratories of Rosselkhoznadzor were aimed at solving the problem.