(Adnkronos) – “The big risk we are running is of losing an important sector, an excellence of Made in Italy. China has already not imported our hams for two years, as have Korea and Japan. Now even the Canada and if the United States, France and Germany, which represent our main markets, then decide to do the same, we will be left with pigs on farms and hams in ham factories. This is because 30% of the hams produced in Italy are exported if exports collapse it will be a catastrophe for the 4 thousand Italian farms and for the processors but also for all related industries”. This is the alarm raised by Elio Martinelli, president of Assosuini, with Adnkronos/Labitalia, after the spread of swine fever on wild boars also in the Parma area led the EU to establish restriction zone II in Langhirano, homeland of Parma Ham. And for Martinelli “if exports collapse, companies will have no alternative but to close and if, looking at the example of Germany which faced the problem before us, the country now has 20% fewer farms after the end of the ’emergency”. “This makes it clear that once the business is closed it is difficult for it to restart after the end of the emergency”, he underlines. According to the president of Assosuini “so far the fight against swine fever in the wild has only been done in theory, just think that after a year and a half the extraordinary commissioner is not yet operational. We must act as done in Sardinia, where the virus was eradicated with the involvement of all forces in the field, starting with the hunters who were the key to defeating the problem. And instead now we have a virus that runs very fast in Italy where it is estimated that there are 1.5-2 million wild boars “, points out. But despite the virus running among wild boars, Italian pig farms are safe. “Our pig farms, thanks to the investments made by farmers in fences and barriers and also with the checks that are carried out continuously, are super safe. We remind you that swine fever is not transmitted to humans but affects wild boars and pigs , spreads quickly and leads to the death of animals in 90% of cases. Having said that, our hams are safe and highly controlled but this is of no interest to the market which does not intend to take risks”, concludes Martinelli. —lavoro/[email protected] (Web Info)
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