UK: Asda will support British pig farmers

As attempts to control the UK Swine Fever outbreak intensify, supermarket chain Asda, has threatened to stop selling pate from Belgium, if the EU ban on live exports is extended to cover all pork meat exports.Banning Belguim pate from Asda stores will mean extra costs for the company, but it has said if the ban is extended to all pork meat exports, in a move to support British pig farmers, the pate will instead be sourced from UK suppliers.An Asda spokesman said: "This is a kick in the teeth for British pig farmers, but we feel passionately about this and even though it will cost us more, we are happy to do it."At a time when farming has been in recession and pig farmers have been selling their pigs at a loss for the past two years, the EU has banned all live exports of pig and swine products until 31 August, when there will be a meeting by EU veterinary experts to review the situation.Shadow agriculture minister, Tim Yeo has called on the EU to compensate pig farmers and said the ban could not come at a worse time for pig farmers and he urged agruclture minister, Nick Brown to act immediately to secure compensation.This is the first outbreak of Swine Fever in the UK for 14 years affecting farms in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex and about 12,000 pigs have so far been slaughtered in a bid to contain the outbreak.To find out more about Swine Fever