Fresh/frozen U.S. pork has been added to the eligible products list for Uzbekistan, with an effective date of production of Jan. 1, 2017. This market had been closed to U.S. pork since 2014, when Uzbekistan suspended imports in response to findings of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) in the United States.
“The suspension was very unfortunate because initial shipments of U.S. pork had just reached Uzbekistan a short time before the ban, and the product was quite well-received,” explained Yuri Barutkin, USMEF representative in the region. “USMEF subsequently invited Uzbek veterinary officials to the United States to learn more about U.S. pork production and ease their concerns about PEDV. Lifting of the ban did not happen as soon as we would have liked, but we never gave up. Together with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, we continued to pursue this issue and remind officials in Uzbekistan that we need a solution, and I’m please to say that U.S. pork is now back in the market.”
Uzbekistan was the only international market to impose a full PEDV-related ban on U.S. pork, though Costa Rica bans U.S. pork casings due to PEDV.
