Ban on Chinese soybean, corn ended

The government has decided to lift a ban on corn and soybean imports from China, a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture said.

"We will lift the ban on Chinese corn and soybeans today," Budi Tri Akoso, director of animal health at the ministry told reporters on Thursday.

The government imposed a ban on Chinese corn and soybeans on March 18 due to the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in Hong Kong, which is part of China.

Budi said according to the World Organization for Animal Health, there is no outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the world currently.

Hong Kong is categorized as an endemic country, where foot-and-mouth has intermittently occurred over the past several years, which is different from an outbreak, he said.

The most recent case in Hong Kong occurred Feb. 28 and it has been more than 30 days since then, he said.

He said as a precaution, shipments of Chinese corn or soybeans leaving China during the Feb. 28-March 28 period won't be allowed to land in Indonesia.

Indonesia imported 1.3 million metric tons of corn from China in 2002.

Budi said the Ministry of Agriculture will evaluate the situation in Hong Kong every two weeks.

Trade participants protested against Indonesia's decision to impose the ban, questioning the validity behind the ban.

The foot-and-mouth disease, a highly infectious virus in cloven-hoofed animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, rarely kills animals but can cause huge production losses.