September 19, 2014
Vietnamhas given Ireland the green light to export fresh and frozen pork to the country.
Banned from exporting pork to Russia, Ireland and other EU countries have been scouting for alternative markets, especially in Asia.
Simon Coveney, Ireland''s minister for agriculture,said "Vietnam is an important market in Southeast Asia, with a growing population, and there are good prospects for Irish meat exports both in the short and long term."
Vietnam''s veterinary authorities have accredited five Irish pig processing facilities to produce porkfor shipments to Vietnam. No date was given on when these plants would begin loading their exports for Hanoi.
Coveney said he hoped that the opening of Vietnam''s door to Irish pork would positively affect Europe''s efforts to gain access to other markets in Southeast Asia.
Even before its August food embargo against the US and the EU,Russia had already banned imports of pork from the EU.
Russiaimposed the ban in March, according to the Irish Examiner news website, after Lithuania discovered two cases of African swine fever in wild boar near its border with Belarus in January. A similar outbreak was reported in Poland the same month.
In August, Russia widened the ban by imposing an embargo on all food imports from the US and its EU allies, including Ireland, in retaliation for the economic sanctions the West had slapped against Moscow for its role in the Ukrainian conflict.
Despite an expanding pig industry, Vietnam''s pork demand continues to outpace production, causing meat imports to rise.
In the first seven months of 2014, data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) shows, Vietnam imported 1,941 tonnes of pork, up 9.4% over the same period last year.