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The Government of Japan (GOJ) announced that it will request the Japanese Diet to amend the Act on Domestic Animal Infectious Diseases Control starting in January 2020 to add African Swine Fever (ASF) to the list of targeted diseases which allows preventative culls of healthy hogs in case of an ASF outbreak.
Currently, the Act only permits preventive culls during a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, in which case affected livestock owners are compensated by the government. Japan does not have ASF, though the disease continues to spread in other countries in East Asia. During the initial session of the Diet starting in January 2020, the GOJ will use lawmaker-initiated legislation to amend the relevant part of the Act so that the change is approved as soon as possible. Further revisions of the Act will be considered later in the Diet session. These are likely to include strengthening the ability of animal quarantine officials to inspect passenger belongings to prevent inbound tourists from bringing illegal meat products into the country.
Monday, December 30, 2019 /USDA/ Japan.
https://apps.fas.usda.gov/
