Minister Song Mi-ryung of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs visited the quarantine site at Incheon International Airport on the 9th, the last day of the Chuseok holiday, to inspect measures to block the entry of overseas transboundary animal diseases and pests into the country. Song encouraged on-site responses by meeting quarantine officers working during the holiday and called for strengthened border quarantine.
The visit was arranged to underscore the importance of border quarantine and to directly check on-site responses as the possibility of overseas infectious diseases entering the country has grown with active human and material exchanges between countries.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the number of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) cases in Europe from January to September this year was 2.1 times higher than in the same period last year. During the same period, African swine fever (ASF) increased by 38% in Asia and Europe, and foot-and-mouth disease cases in Asia, Europe, and Africa were tallied to have risen by about 131%.
Minister Song received a briefing from the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency on the progress of border quarantine operations and inspected procedures for carry-on baggage quarantine at the airport, the disinfection status of livestock-related personnel, and the operation of quarantine detector dogs. She then conveyed her gratitude to frontline staff working during the holiday period.
Minister Song said, "For our agriculture and livestock industry to grow stably, an ironclad quarantine at the border is more important than anything else," adding, "I ask that on-site quarantine officers carry out their duties thoroughly with a sense of mission and responsibility, and that you make special efforts in promoting border quarantine."