Airport inspection tightened on livestock workers

Livestock farmers and their families will be obliged to receive medical inspections when they return from a country where an infectious animal disease has broken out, according to a revised bill approved Tuesday.

The revision, which belatedly passed through the National Assembly on Thursday, was approved during the Cabinet meeting in order to better control the rampant foot-and-mouth and other contagious animal diseases.

Under the revision, those involved in livestock farming, including veterinarians and quarantine officials, are required to fill out a questionnaire and receive a medical checkup upon arrival from countries where an animal disease outbreak has occurred.

When leaving for any disease-hit foreign country, they also have to report their trip to the director of livestock quarantine office at the airport or port.

If a disease breaks out due to negligence of the law, the person concerned can face a disadvantage in receiving government subsidies given to compensate for the losses from the disease outbreak.

Foot and mouth disease has forced the Korean government to cull nearly 2 million livestock since its discovery on Nov. 26.

With the disease spreading rapidly, criticism is growing over the government’s futile efforts to contain the disease, especially for the slow response to the first case.

A farmer reported in November the deaths of some pigs on his farms. However, quarantine officials collected some samples for an examination two days later, taking no immediate action.

Adding to the negligence of government officials, the farmer was found later to have recently visited Vietnam, which the World Organization for Animal Health removed from its official list of countries free from foot-and-mouth in early November.

Along with the obligatory entry report, the Cabinet approved Tuesday a special budget of 601.7 billion won (or $540 million) for compensation for farmers, quarantine activities and the purchase of vaccines.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)