China imposes partial ban on Norwegian salmon imports

China has announced it will halt imports of whole salmon from northern Norway from next week due to its worries that viruses carried by the products could threaten the Asian country's fish farming industry, an official document showed Thursday.

Starting on March 23, imports of whole salmon with heads or viscera from Norway's northern counties of Sor-Trondelag, Troms and Nordland will be halted, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said in a letter to the Norwegian authorities.

China has found viruses that can cause infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) in ten batches of salmon imports from the three Norwegian counties since last summer, the latest case as recent as February 27, according to the letter, dated March 17 and obtained by Xinhua late Thursday.

An analysis conducted by Chinese experts last year showed that Norwegian salmon have a high risk of spreading ISA viruses, which pose potential threat to China's fish stocks that are susceptible to diseases, the letter said.

For whole salmon from other Norwegian regions, exports will continue but starting April 18, they will only be accepted by China if they are accompanied by certificates with new contents, including guarantees that the fish is free of ISA viruses or salmonid alphaviruses (SAVs).

Moreover, China will increase its testing for the presence of ISA viruses in all salmon imports from Norway and new measures will be taken if there are problems.

China's latest move is in line with the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and principles of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the letter said.

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (FSA) said on Wednesday that it had on several occasions sent documentation to the Chinese authorities showing that Norwegian salmon imports meet international requirements and pose no threat to China's fish.

"We believe that there is no danger to Chinese salmon of infection with ISA virus because fish products from Norway go directly to the consumers," the FSA said in a statement. "The ISA virus is not dangerous for humans."

According to the FSA, the three countries accounted for around a fifth of Norway's salmon exports to China last year.