Govt And Traders Reach Deal, Pig Cull To Resume

The government’s reached an agreement with pork traders over the cull of some 6,000 pigs, heading off threats of stronger protest action from the sector.

Dozens of traders gathered at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse on Sunday, attempting to halt a planned cull of live pigs there, after health officials declared the site an infected area on Friday after the discovery of a case of African swine fever in a pig imported from the mainland.

Traders were told they would be compensated at market value, but some argued that it was wrong to cull pigs which have not been infected. The food and health chief, Sophia Chan, also warned traders they would be breaking the law if they tried to prevent the cull.

But a meeting between representatives of the trade and the Under Secretary for Food and Health, Chui Tak-yi on Sunday afternoon ended with three points of consensus being reached.

Dr Chui said after the “very frank and productive discussions” that the cull of 6,000 live pigs at the Sheung Shui slaughterhouse would begin on Monday, and the culling and disinfection process would be completed in seven days.

He said the government, with the help of the trade, would communicate with customs authorities in the mainland to resume the supply of live pigs to the Tsuen Wan slaughterhouse as soon as possible.

And Dr Chui said the government understood the concerns of traders, and would continue to explore whether there is any room to refine the scope of culling of live pigs in abattoirs, if further cases of African swine fever were detected.

He said that “very cautious and definite measures” were needed to handle this first case of African swine fever in Hong Kong and prevent it from becoming an endemic situation in the city.

He added that local people, mainland China and the international community were closely watching how authorities dealt with this case.