FMD-Free zone without vaccination, Paraná wants to triple pork exports

The recognition of Paraná as an area free of foot-and-mouth disease, without vaccination, can boost pork exports by the state. According to the vice-president of the West Program in Development (POD), Elias Zydek, the new sanitary status should allow Paraná to triple the exports of this protein. “We will be the redemption of national pig farming,” he said, during a meeting with business people at an event organized by the Coordination of Commercial Associations of Western Paraná (CACIOPAR) in the city of Nova Santa Rosa, at Paraná.

Since 2006, the state has no incidence of the foot-and-mouth disease virus in its herds. A strict sanitary schedule has been adhered to and the expectation has been that the recognition would come only in two years’ time. The vice-president said: “We did a basic job to show that anticipation could occur, with commercial benefits to the country”. Zydek reminds us that the guarantee for Paraná to stop vaccination was given on 22 April in Curitiba, in a meeting of Block V of the Strategic Plan of the National Program for Eradication and Prevention of Foot-and-Mouth Disease.

The anticipation of the schedule results from an articulated work of CACIOPAR, POD and other entities, which included the subject as a priority on its list of actions. In citing the grain and meat markets, and their relationship to the concept of a global village where everything is connected, Elias Zydek said that in this interlinked market there are rules that need to be carefully observed and enforced. Paraná is following a strict health plan, focusing mainly on swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza, as well as conditioning diseases and limiting markets. If records are confirmed, then the affected region will be barred from trading with the world.

Due to the status of FMD free with vaccination, Paraná does not have access to exports to countries such as Japan, Korea, Mexico and others, which combined buy 2.6 million tons of pork a year. These countries represent 65% of the global buyer’s market for this protein. In addition to demanding FMD free without vaccination, they pay up to 20% higher in comparison to other countries: countries where Paraná exports around 100 thousand tons annually.

Largest producer

With the new sanitary status, the goals of Paraná’s pig farmers and exporting companies are ambitious. Firstly, Paraná intends to become the largest national producer of pork. Today Paraná is the second largest, with 18% of the total production, second only to Santa Catarina, which accounts for 21%, but ahead of the third largest, Rio Grande do Sul, with 14%. Together, the three southern states produce the equivalent of 53% of Brazilian pork production. “And we have total conditions to take the lead in a short time”, according to Elias Zydek.

To confirm the new status, Paraná will have to follow a long and systematic set of official procedures. It will be necessary, before making new contracts, to wait one year without vaccination, as well as the accomplishment of numerous tests of serology. Audits will be conducted for the verification of protocols and the borders should be carefully protected. A private fund was created for the construction of inspection points in strategic locations of the territory. The fund already has R$4.5 million for this purpose. The state government will also need to secure compensation, including hiring more professionals to develop all necessary surveillance.

The municipalities will also have a determining role to play, starting with the activation, reactivation and/or strengthening of their animal health councils. Today, the Western region has 18 councils, but the goal is to reach 30 by 2020. One aspect to be highlighted, according to Elias Zydek, is that Paraná is the only Brazilian state that has a biosafety law for swine farming. If everything goes well, the state could triple its pork exports, strengthen rural properties, inject more resources into the economy, and open up new employment and income opportunities.