Chile-Japan and South Korea lift pork ban.

CHILE.

JAPAN LIFTS PORK BAN.

South Korea and Japan re-opened their markets to Chilean pork, according to a release from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food on Monday.

Minister Marigen Hornkohl, said Korean sanitary authorities had lifted the temporary ban at the end of the year and that frozen pork in containers at the ports of both countries, would now be allowed to enter the country.

Korean authorities underlined the joint effort and full cooperation, from the government of Chile and the private sector in overcoming this problem.

The ban imposed on Chilean pork by South Korea last August, took away the traditional market for 40% of the pigs produced in Chile.

The reason for the ban, was contamination of pork with dioxins, the cause was found to be in the animal feed, very similar to the recent problems in Ireland.

This was very much a case of the government of Chile, "Being in the wrong and promptly admitting it", which was not lost on the government of South Korea, also the speedy settlement to the solution.

It was jointly agreed that samples would be taken from the pork in the containers that were en-route and in port, in particular the pigs supplied from farms that were contaminated.

In the case of Japan, there were no dioxins found this was just a precautionary measure agreed mutually between both governments.