Ban on Chinese soybean, corn ended

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.