S'pore lifts ban on pig imports

S'pore lifts ban on pig imports

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore said Saturday it will lift a ban on live pig imports after an outbreak of a fatal pig-borne virus struck neighboring Malaysia and here.

The first shipment of 818 pigs from Indonesia would arrive here on Monday for slaughter under stringent conditions, a statement from the Primary Production Department said.

The pigs are from a Singapore government-approved farm on Pulau Bulan, an island south of the larger Indonesian island of Batam close to Singapore.

Singapore banned imports of live pigs last month as it undertook emergency steps to rid the island of encephalitis viruses which killed one Singaporean and about 100 people in Malaysia.

Singapore officials said for food safety and hygiene reasons, the meat would be chilled immediately after the imported pigs were slaughtered at a new abattoir fully equipped to chill the carcasses. Refrigerated trucks will keep the meat chilled all the way to wet markets. Market stallholders selling pork have been asked to install chillers.