Beijing (AsiaNews) China's government liften the ban on pork exports even though people in the southern part of the country and in Hong Kong are still dying from the streptococcus suis, a bacterium lethal to humans, that is widespread in animal farms in central China.
For the past month, pigs from Sichuan, Henan and Guangdong show evidence that the Streptococcus suis, which can be deadly and passed on to humans, is mutating. Last month, 40 farmers died in Sichuan, a province that exports pork meat to the whole of China and Hong Kong.
Li Changjiang, the Minister responsible for the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said the fatal outbreak in Sichuan was "now under control", whilst the Agriculture Ministry confirmed there was no outbreak in Henan.
However, in Shenzhen, where a 28-year-old man died, Wang Xuewei, director-general of the Shenzhen Bureau of Commerce and Industry, said the city lacked the infrastructure to handle emergencies. "To be honest, we don't have adequate facilities and experience to fully prevent such . . . outbreaks. Our planning and preparation is not enough."
The most pressing problem is that "we don't have enough modern slaughterhouses. Illegal slaughtering [of live pigs] is a problem," he added.
Food quality control appears even harder to enforce in China after it was found that farms treat eel and fish with malachite green, a cancer-causing chemical fungicide, used to heal the skin of eel and as steroids for fish of up to two years.
Beijing reported today that out of 44 samples tested, 13 contained the cancer-causing fungicide.
Use of this chemical in fish farming has been banned since 2002, but the data show that farmers have not respected the ban. Malachite concentration varies from 1.2 micrograms to 900 per kilo.
"The world standard is that any detectable dose is not acceptable," Hong Kong medical sector lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki said, "and dangerous".
The number of scandals in China related to poor food safety, inadequate controls in farming and illegal operations is constantly rising, from the civet-linked SARS outbreak and the avian flu to the Streptococcus suis in pigs and malachite green in eels.
The problem is particularly noteworthy in Hong Kong. The former British colony is one of the major importers of Sichuan pork and Guangdong eels and has paid a heavy price for the lack of food safety and animal health concern in mainland China, especially during the SARS outbreak.
Yesterday, the death of 79-year-old Hong Kong woman as a result of the Streptococcus suis brings the total death toll to ten.
Local leaders and editorial writers are asking themselves if it is still worth paying the price in human lives for Beijing's lack of concern and "face-saving attitude" or whether the territory should just shut down the border and stop imports instead.
For now, Hong Kong authorities are still following the first policy and are only demanding China enforce "controls" on exports. Meanwhile, fish farmers are protesting the drop in sales. Even the Hong Kong and Kowloon Fresh Fish Association is calling on Beijing to improve controls and issue safety certificates to allay consumer concerns.