(CN) New zones to fight animal disease

[Guest guest]

China Daily http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2001-11-21/44549.html

 

(FU JING)

11/21/2001

 

The Ministry of Agriculture announced yesterday in Beijing it will invest

500 million yuan (US$60.2 million) to set up model zones where livestock

diseases will be effectively controlled and eradicated.

This will greatly aid China's major export-led animal and animal products

markets.

 

The project involves approximately 120 counties in Chongqing municipality

and the five provinces of Shandong, Liaoning, Sichuan, Jilin and Hainan,

where the annual export volume of animals and animal products amounts to 10

per cent of the nation's total.

 

By next year, well-equipped animal diseases control and prevention systems,

as well as a disease monitoring system, are to be established. Animals and

animal products in the zones will be kept free from foot-and-mouth disease,

hog cholera, Newcastle disease and bird flu.

 

Officials from the ministry, the provinces and municipalities signed a

co-operative agreement yesterday in Beijing to carry out the project.

 

A senior agricultural official said the decision is an important step for

the country to improve its livestock's competitiveness in the global market

following China's entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

 

" The WTO participation means more livestock trade opportunities but we still

need hard work, " said Qi Jingfa, vice-minister of agriculture at the signing

ceremony.

 

Qi admitted, in this regard, " the threshold of the international market is

rather high for China's exporters. "

 

However, he added: " On the flip side, we will gradually lower tariff rates

for imported agricultural products, and this will make foreign exporters

enter China more easily. "

 

Chen Wenguang, vice-governor of Sichuan Province, said the State's farming

industry should act in line with international rules to alleviate the

impacts China's WTO entry will bring.

 

" The ministry's present measure will help us change the way of thinking and

the way we produce for the global market, " Chen said.

 

Part of the project in Sichuan Province is already in full swing, and

efforts are now focusing on infrastructure construction.

 

" The non-disease zones in our provinces will be specially walled to prevent

the causes of animal pestilences from entering, " said Chen.

 

He added that a three-level animal disease reporting system - at provincial,

prefectural and county authorities - will be established in the near future.

 

" And for every possible plague, we have prepared a set of preventive and

control measures, " said Chen.