TEXT: International organizations stress pork safety

GENEVA (Reuters) - Major international organisations issued a joint statement on Saturday stressing the safety of pork products, following a series of export bans imposed in the name of public health amid a new disease outbreak."

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday changed the name of the strain from "swine flu" to A-H1N1 to reflect the fact that the virus is spreading between humans and not in pigs. The Geneva-based agency was also under intense pressure from the pork industry in the United States to change the name.

Following is the three-paragraph statement issued by the WHO along with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and World Trade Organization (WTO):

"In light of the spread of influenza A/H1N1, and the rising concerns about the possibility of this virus being found in pigs and the safety of pork and pork products, we stress that pork and pork products, handled in accordance with good hygienic practices recommended by the WHO, FAO, Codex Alimentarius Commission and the OIE, will not be a source of infection."

"To date there is no evidence that the virus is transmitted by food. There is currently therefore no justification in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Standards Code for the imposition of trade measures on the importation of pigs or their products."

"However it is important that veterinary authorities should collaborate with human health counterparts to monitor pig herds for any signs of unusual illness with suspected linkages to human cases of A/H1N1 influenza."

www.wto.org/english/news_e/news09_e/jt_stat_02may09_e.htm

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