China denies import blocks of EU pig meat

China has denied restrictions on pork imports from the European Union, Beijing’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported on September 23.
EU health and food safety commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said yesterday that China recently started imposing curbs on EU pork imports, as Denmark, France, Italy and Spain were asked to prove the safety of their live pigs.
China still allows pork imports from these countries, but only asks for additional inspection out of H1N1 fears, according to Yu Taiwei, minister of China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
China imported 932,000 tons of pork last year, or 50.6% of total meat import volumes, says China’s Ministry of Commerce. Currently, China only imports pig meat from five countries, four of which are in the EU.