The Chinese government says it wants to restore domestic pork production to its prior glory, but history sheds doubt on its prospects. As noted previously, ASF has had a demonstrably larger impact on China than did BSE on Europe, and yet EU beef production and consumption have never fully recovered. Beef consumption in Europe today is 10 percent lower than it was a decade ago.  Japan was also impacted by BSE, though on an import basis. Tokyo banned imports of beef from America following the outbreak of BSE in the U.S. in 2003. Australia became a larger alternative supplier, but still total Japanese beef imports fell by 24 percent and domestic consumption dropped by 13 percent. A recovery has only been noticeable in the last few years...

TAGS – Livestock, Australia, Asia, China, North America