China bans pork imports from Barcelona after Spain's swine fever outbreak

By Jesus Calero and Emma Pinedo

MADRID/BEIJING (Reuters) -China has banned pork imports from Barcelona province after Spain detected its first case of African swine fever in three decades in two wild boar found dead in the area, a Chinese Customs document seen by Reuters showed. 

The outbreak of the virus, last recorded in Spain in 1994, coincides with Spanish efforts to court Beijing and gain market share in the pork sector and after China imposed tariffs on EU pork during an anti-dumping investigation.

A separate Customs database entry showed China has also suspended pork imports from plants in the affected area belonging to 12 companies, including major exporters Costa Food Meat and Matadero Frigorifico Avinyo.

SPAIN HALTS ALL PORK SHIPMENTS TO CHINA TEMPORARILY

Spain is the European Union's leading pork producer, accounting for roughly a quarter of the bloc's output, ahead of Germany, with annual pork exports of about 3.5 billion euros ($4.05 billion).

Spain recently signed an agreement with China that means producers in other parts of Spain should not be affected by the ban, but it has halted all pork shipments to China as a precaution until Beijing confirms it has implemented the protocol to restrict trade only from the affected province, Emilio Garcia, a senior Spanish agriculture ministry official, told reporters in a briefing. 

Once China declares it has been activated, Spain will be able to resume exports from regions that are unaffected by the virus, he said.

The restrictions and special monitoring will last at least 12 months, Garcia added.

South Korea and the United States also have regionalisation protocols with Spain, so they will continue to import from Spanish regions except the province of Barcelona, which contains 14 meat-processing plants.

However, exports to Mexico and Japan will be restricted as the countries have no regionalisation agreements with Spain, Garcia said.

PORK INDUSTRY ALREADY STRUGGLING

"The European market is already struggling after a 20% drop in prices since July," said Jean-Paul Simier, a meat analyst at French commodities research group Cyclope.

"There is a risk of an embargo against the biggest EU pork exporter, notably in Asia, and China in particular."

Spanish pork lobby group Interporc said pork farms within a 20-kilometre (12.4-mile) radius of the location where the boar were found would face restrictions on operating and selling their products. There are 39 pig farms within that radius, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Spain's farmers' association, Asaja, said the sector was ready to face the outbreak, but called on authorities to address an "out-of-control presence" of wild animals such as boars and rabbits in rural areas that risked contaminating livestock.

"We have spent years modernising farms, reinforcing biosecurity and making our operations among the most advanced in the world," it said.   

Garcia said authorities would conduct a census of the area's wild boar population and tightly monitor their movements. The two boar carcasses had been found "while they were still fresh," so the virus was detected early, he said.

Spain's pork exports to China of over 540,000 metric tons in 2024 were worth 1.1 billion euros ($1.28 billion), Garcia said.

The virus, which is harmless to humans but deadly for pigs, has been spreading westwards in Europe in recent years.

Germany's sizeable pork industry has already been rattled, with many overseas countries imposing bans on its pork. In recent months, Croatia has been trying to contain an outbreak.

($1 = 0.8637 euros)

(Reporting by Jesus Calero, Emma Pinedo, David Latona and Corina Pons in Madrid and Ella Cao in Beijing; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris; editing by Charlie Devereux, Kevin Liffey, Sharon Singleton, Rod Nickel)