[National Assembly Policy Forum] Pork Industry in Crisis Seeks Major Shift in Disease Control Paradigm Away from ‘Administrative Regulation’ and Toward ‘Science- and Field-Centered’ Measures

[Korea Agricultural Technology Newspaper = Reporter Baek Cheol-hyeon] Since the beginning of this year, a total of 24 cases of African swine fever (ASF) have occurred intensively over 60 days in farmed pig operations alone, spreading to seven cities and provinces nationwide and showing a pattern different from the past, placing the pork industry in an unprecedented crisis. However, as excessive regulation-oriented quarantine measures focused solely on blocking the disease threaten farmers’ right to survive, calls are growing to now consider realistic improvement measures.

In response, the Korea Pork Producers Association, together with Democratic Party lawmakers Moon Geum-ju and Lim Mi-ae and People Power Party lawmaker Jung Hee-yong, held a National Assembly policy forum on June 11 to overcome the limitations of the current administrative regulation-centered quarantine system and seek field-tailored countermeasures.

Korea Pork Producers Association: “Regulations detached from reality must be eased and mutually beneficial compensation measures for farmers must be 마련ed”
Jung Byung-il, a manager at the Korea Pork Producers Association who gave the main presentation, and Choi Jae-hyuk, a director who joined the discussion, said they agreed with the government’s direction of advancing quarantine measures, but pointed out that the current administratively convenient regulations, created based on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) standards from the past when airborne transmission was possible, are seriously threatening farmers’ right to survive. They argued that realistic improvement measures acceptable to the field must be 마련ed in consideration of the scientific characteristic that the ASF virus is transmitted only through 'direct contact.'

Manager Jung Byung-il emphasized, “The ban on the movement of live animals and manure between cities and provinces, indiscriminately overused by local governments, is causing enormous economic damage to farms,” adding, “The provision for income stabilization cost support under the Act on the Prevention of Contagious Animal Diseases should be revised from the current 'discretionary provision' to a 'mandatory provision' so that effective compensation standards for affected farms can be proactively 마련ed.”

In addition, the association proposed that when there is no case of infection transmission, 'slaughterhouse epidemiological links' should be immediately excluded from movement restriction targets; that movement restrictions on a farm should be lifted immediately if an epidemiological vehicle tests negative after disinfection; that the quarantine zone around an affected farm should be drastically reduced from the current 10 km radius to within 300 m; and that the establishment of wild boar quarantine zones overlapping with farm traffic routes should be abolished.

At the forum, Lee Eun-kyung, head of the Animal Quarantine and Hygiene Division at Gyeonggi Provincial Government, said, “Both the farmed pig and wild boar quarantine zones should be adjusted to 3 km, and farms within 3 km should be provided with an automatic alert service for wild boar detection points to induce voluntary quarantine measures,” showing agreement on easing distance regulations while differing somewhat on detailed standards.

The Korea Pork Producers Association also argued that vehicle operation for farms under movement restrictions should be changed from the current 'one vehicle per day' limit to allowing 'multiple trips per day' when visiting a designated disinfection facility, and that livestock manure vehicles collecting manure by hose from outside the farm should be exempted from the requirement to visit such facilities. In particular, regarding the controversial 'eight major quarantine facility regulations,' the association requested that the uniform regulation requiring fully sealed anterooms be adjusted to fit farm environments, and that the conditional installation of a 'side door' (locked under normal circumstances) be allowed so that even elderly farmers can respond flexibly in emergencies such as heavy equipment movement, fire, or evacuation. 

Director Choi Jae-hyuk stressed, “This surge in ASF is a force majeure disaster introduced through feed and other routes, so farmers are victims, not perpetrators. Not only should 100% of culling compensation be paid, but since it takes at least two years to normalize operations until restocking after culling, a new category of 'additional business loss compensation' arising during this period should be established.”
Regarding the standards for reducing compensation, Choi also proposed, “Even though there are already standards for imposing fines for inadequate quarantine facilities or the use of expired disinfectants, cutting the amount again from culling compensation is excessive double punishment, so we should move away from reduction-centered, violation-detecting epidemiological investigations and conduct investigations purely to identify the cause of outbreaks.”

Lee Eun-kyung said, “A blanket 20% reduction for not installing an anteroom is harsh. It should be adjusted reasonably in consideration of actual installation rates, and national support for quarantine supplies in border areas (northern Gyeonggi and Gangwon) should be differentiated.” She added, “To address quarantine vulnerabilities at large farms employing more than 50 foreign workers, cooperation systems with field veterinarians should be strengthened, and at the same time, the efficiency of early detection should be improved by expanding 'carcass testing.'” 

Regarding the proposals made by the Korea Pork Producers Association that day, Kim Jeong-ju, director of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Control Division at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, responded, “When the SOP is revised in a future public-private-academic meeting, we will discuss the contents proposed by the Korea Pork Producers Association as well.”

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs pushes ‘six major quarantine advancement tasks’ based on scientific data
Kim Jeong-ju, director of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Control Division at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, who gave the main presentation, diagnosed the situation based on genotype analysis and epidemiological investigation results, saying, “The main causes of this surge in ASF are contaminated feed ingredients (such as plasma protein), illegal livestock products brought in by foreign workers, and the southward movement of wild boars.” He then announced six major quarantine response measures based on scientific data and presented specific future response plans.

First, to establish a management system for foreign workers, from April 2026 the KEIS-KAHIS systems will be linked so that farm owners are automatically notified of foreign workers’ entry information, and multilingual quarantine education will be strengthened. In addition, inspections of all carry-on items on high-risk routes such as Cambodia and Vietnam will be expanded, and the ministry plans to consult with the Ministry of Justice so that entry bans and other measures can be imposed for bringing in illegal livestock products.

It will also improve effectiveness by moving away from the existing random blood sampling test method for 10 live pigs in farm surveillance and shifting to environment-centered surveillance focusing on carcasses and compost. By May 2026, it plans to complete an ASF testing system for pigs shipped from all 64 slaughterhouses nationwide and conduct regular testing of blood tanks for feed use (once or twice a week). An 'electronic shipment system' that manages records from farm to slaughter will also be introduced on a pilot basis within this year.

And to strengthen feed manufacturing management, the ministry will institutionalize by August 2026 an inactivation process that completely kills pathogens, such as spray drying and hydrolysis, for pig plasma protein feed ingredients, and establish a company-responsibility-based safety management system.

It also plans to strengthen quarantine management for wild boars. In border areas such as Gyeonggi and Gangwon, habitat density will be drastically reduced through drones, thermal imaging vehicles, and cooperation from military units. In newly affected southern spread areas, 150 GPS capture traps will be intensively deployed along with the establishment of defensive lines using terrain features such as roads and the sea.

At the forum, Kang Hae-eun, head of the Overseas Animal Disease Division at the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, said, “Since the key causes of the new genotype ASF that occurred early this year have been identified as illegal livestock products carried by travelers and contaminated feed ingredients, it is urgent to establish an inspection system to select uncontaminated raw materials at the feed manufacturing stage, along with managing overseas workers.” 
She also added, “We should shift to an efficient passive surveillance system that actively utilizes environmental testing such as carcasses and compost, which greatly contributed to blocking this spread, and while chronic-type viruses should be detected early, the introduction of vaccines should be pursued cautiously because of the risk of the emergence of new variants.”

Next, Ko Sang-eok, director of Ballard Animal Hospital, said, “At present, transmission among domestic pigs can be clearly controlled, but control over wild boars is not being carried out well, so this part must be supplemented.” He also argued, “The government should promptly establish standards for vaccine production, and thorough quarantine education should be provided not only to farm managers but also to all related businesses.”

In his closing remarks, Kim Jeong-ju, director of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Control Division at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, “At recent meetings with farmers, we listened carefully to and identified farmers’ three core demands, and review of the 60 billion won budget related to culling compensation has been completed. We will concentrate budgetary capacity on swift support and laying the groundwork for early restocking so that damage caused by the suspension of farmers’ business activities is minimized.”