Halt on Spanish pork imports overshadows ham supply in Japan

With nearly 70 pct of Japan's total dry-cured ham imports coming from Spain, worries grew about supply, demand and prices.

Bar Mar Espana, a Spanish cuisine restaurant in the Akasaka district of Tokyo's Minato Ward, uses Spanish pork for four menu items, including the popular prosciutto dish.

"I'm worried that customers who come to eat our Iberian pork dishes may leave," said Koro Konishi, head of the company operating the restaurant.

He noted that orders at prosciutto suppliers have increased sharply since the import ban, adding, "We may run out of stock at our store by the end of the year."

On November 28, the agriculture ministry suspended imports of pork from Spain to prevent ASF infection in pigs raised in Japan after wild boars were confirmed to be infected with ASF in the European country.

Japan has so far lifted its pork import suspension for only three countries, including Belgium, out of 84 economies where an ASF outbreak occurred.

Of some 976,000 tons of pork imported last year, about 169,000 tons, or 17.3 pct, came from Spain, the third-largest source after Canada and the United States, according to Finance Ministry data.

Spanish pork accounts for about 10 pct of the total pork supplies in Japan.

Agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki said Tuesday that the import ban "will affect supply and demand to a certain extent."

Although ASF does not infect humans, it is deadly in pigs and boars, with no effective vaccines or treatments developed.

While there has been no outbreak in Japan, the government plans to implement thorough border measures to prevent the virus from being brought in from Europe, Africa and elsewhere in Asia.