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EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, today welcomed the European Parliament's support for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and South Korea. An overwhelming majority of MEPs voted for the deal (465 MEPs in favour) meaning that from 1st July 2011 businesses from both sides will be able to trade more freely and easily than ever before. This is the first time that the European Parliament has endorsed a trade agreement and adopted accompanying trade legislation under the Lisbon Treaty procedures.

Surveys conducted in the months of May and June 2010 indicate a decrease in the EU – 27 swine population of 1% with respect to 2000, with a census that has gone from 151 million heads in 2009 to 150 million in 2010.

Import duties on certain cereals imported into the EU will be suspended next week until the end of June 2011 in order to ease the pressure on the EU market, especially for animal feed. Backed by Member States this morning within the Management Committee, the move is intended to help maintain a good balance on the EU market. The suspension relates to existing tariff rate quotas for low & medium quality soft wheat and for feed barley, where the preferential tariffs of 12 €/tonne and 16 €/tonne respectively will be reduced to zero for the volumes permitted under the quota.

For 2010-11, total exports are forecast to be slightly lower than 2009-10 due to lower exports of wheat (ex-durum), canola, oats and flaxseed.

Data from China's Customs show that frozen pork exports recorded 110,000 tonnes in 2010, or an increase of 26.3% from the previous year.

The OIE has reported four new outbreaks of african swine fever in Tanzania.

China's Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday announced it had included pork, mutton, beef and their by-products onto the list of bulk agricultural products required for import reporting as of April 1.

The carbon footprint of Irish food products have been rated as amongst the best in the EU according to a major study just published by the Joint Research Centre of the EU Commission.

Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has targeted a growth rate of 7.5-8% for the husbandry industry during the period 2011-15.

The European Commission has authorised under EU state aid rules the extension until 31 December 2011 of a temporary Dutch scheme to grant aid of up to € 15 000 per beneficiary.

South Korea will raise the volume limit of imported pork subject to its tariff quota system, in a bid to tame rising food costs.

A federally-funded exit program for cash-strapped hog producers has officially earmarked all available cash as of Jan. 31 and is now being wound down.