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 The latest measures complement import requirements on pig blood
products that may be used for feeding piglets, which the European
Union agreed last month.
In a statement, the European Commission, the EU executive, said the
temporary testing was to protect the EU pig industry from Porcine
Epidemic Diarrhoea, which has swept the United States and helped to
push pork prices to record highs.
The United States and Canada exported some 900 pigs for breeding
purposes to the European Union in 2013, the Commission said.
The European Union does not need to import pigs for food because it
produces 22 million tons of pig meat annually, more than enough for
EU needs.
The EU executive has also asked the European Food Safety Authority
to research new strains of the virus, which it said will enable a
more thorough review of the disease situation and risk mitigation
measures.
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As the United States battles the disease, U.S. Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack ordered farmers to start reporting cases of the virus
and pledged more than $26 million in funding to help stamp it out.
(Reporting by Barbara Lewis; editing by Adrian Croft)
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