The Government has established a mechanism to monitor animal diseases at import level and in slaughterhouses to ensure that the live pigs supplied to Hong Kong are not infected by African Swine Fever (ASF).
 
The Centre for Food Safety made the statement today, noting that the mechanism covers the inspection of imported live pigs for consumption.
 
Currently, live pigs supplied to Hong Kong are sourced from registered farms which are under the supervision and monitoring of the Mainland authority. Every consignment of live pigs supplied to the city must undergo quarantine and inspection before export and be accompanied by an official health certificate and does not have the ASF virus.
 
Additionally, veterinary officers of the centre at Animal Inspection Station will inspect the health conditions of live pigs. If the registered farm in the Mainland is affected by ASF, the live pigs from the farm cannot be imported to Hong Kong. If there are any pigs suspected to be infected with ASF, samples will be collected and sent to the Veterinary Laboratory of the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department for testing.
 
All pigs have to undergo stringent ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections in slaughterhouses before supplying to the market. In the past four years, no live pigs supplied from the Mainland to Hong Kong were detected as having ASF.
 
With the daily clearance arrangement implemented since June 2019, all live pigs admitted to the slaughterhouses are slaughtered within 24 hours. Lairages at different areas of the slaughterhouses are cleared and undergo thorough cleaning and disinfection every day to reduce the risk of ASF infection and the virus from being carried from slaughterhouses to local farms.
 
Furthermore, Mainland live pig vehicles and local ones are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected every time they leave the slaughterhouse, and the designated positions for their cleaning and disinfection are separated.
 
Disinfection pools have also been installed near the entrance gate to facilitate disinfection of wheels for pig-conveying trucks entering and leaving the slaughterhouse. The Food & Environmental Hygiene Department and the operators of the slaughterhouses have deployed additional manpower to ensure the vehicles have undergone thorough cleaning and disinfection before leaving.
 
Noting that the Government attaches great importance to the impact of ASF to local pig farmers and the pig rearing industry, the centre said the recent cases of ASF in Hong Kong did not affect the operation of local slaughterhouses and hence did not affect the supply of live pigs and the price.