USDA deems France and Spain free from hog disease
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has amended its regulations to recognize that France and Spain are free from classical swine fever.
The agency said that under certain conditions, France and Spain may export breeding swine and pork products to the United States.
France and Spain together annually export about 711,000 metric tons to other European Union countries. Both countries also ship about 239,000 metric tons a year to non-EU countries.
USDA expects the rulemaking to have little impact on U.S. hog imports from France and Spain. Total commercial production of pork in the United States in 2000 alone was about 8.6 million metric tons, while total pork imports that same year amounted to only 321,000 metric tons. Most U.S. pork imports originate in Canada and Denmark.