* Russia, China ban pork imports from Mexico, U.S. * WHO says no danger of swine flu from contact with pork By Jonathan Lynn GENEVA, April 27 (Reuters) - Outbreaks of swine flu have prompted several countries to ban the import of pig meat, raising the prospect the disease will add a further protectionist blow to sagging world trade. International trade rules allow countries to restrict or ban imports for health and safety reasons -- but this has to be based on scientific evidence. "It's not supposed to be an unjustifiable barrier to trade," Stuart Harbinson, senior trade policy advisor at law firm Winston & Strawn and former chairman of agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), told Reuters. Confirmed outbreaks of swine flu in Mexico, where it has killed 103 people, the United States, Canada and Spain have prompted health authorities to put customs officers on alert. Cases of the flu, which has components of classic avian, human and swine flu viruses but has not actually been seen in pigs, were also suspected in Britain, France, Italy and Israel. On Sunday Russia banned imports of all meat not treated thermally from Mexico, Texas, California and Kansas, and raw pork imports from 8 other U.S. states, Central America and the Caribbean. [ID:nLQ600185] China, the world's largest pork consumer, also banned imports of live pigs and pork products from Mexico, Texas, California and Kansas. [ID:nPEK2499] The United Arab Emirates is considering banning imports of pork products from Mexico and the United States. Such trade measures are monitored by the WTO's Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures monitors. FEARS OF ABUSE But exporters often claim that health and safety standards are abused to keep out their goods. The latest restrictions will add to those concerns, particular as the G20 group of leading and emerging countries repeated a call this month to its members not to raise trade barriers. Last Thursday World Bank President Robert Zoellick said nine out of the 20 nations -- including Russia and the United States -- had taken or were considering measures to restrict trade in the face of the economic crisis. [ID:nN23322834] The World Health Organisation (WHO) says you cannot catch swine flu from infected pork. "Right now we have no evidence to suggest that people are getting infected from exposure to pork or to pigs so right now we have zero evidence that exposure to meat leads to infection," Keiji Fukuda, acting assistant director-general for health security and environment, said on Sunday. In fact the world animal health body OIE says the disease should not even be called swine flu, as it also contained avian and human influenza components and no pig has been found ill with the disease so far. [ID:nLR478786] The WHO says the swine flu virus is killed by cooking temperatures of 70 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Fahrenheit), in line with general guidance for cooking pork safely. But health experts say bird flu -- another animal influenza that can infect people -- can be caught through contact with contaminated poultry, but not by eating properly cooked meat even if it was previously contaminated with the virus. Those concerns have led several countries in recent years to restrict imports of poultry from China, one of several countries, especially in Asia, where bird flu is endemic. Earlier this month China launched a trade dispute against the United States at the WTO over U.S. laws restricting imports of poultry products from China, which has been dogged by several food safety scandals. [ID:nN17344221] (For more stories on swine flu, click on [nFLU]) (For WHO information on swine flu, go to: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html )
A passenger arriving from Mexico answers journalists questions at Frankfurt's airport April 27, 2009. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a "public health emergency of international concern" over an outbreak ...
