(NAFB) – Late last week, the first cases of African Swine Fever in domestic hogs appeared in Germany.

Reuters says the ASF discovery could make negotiations about lifting existing import bans with China and other major buyers more difficult. However, experts predict no major impact will hit the German pork market right away. The disease was confirmed last Friday on two small farms in the same location where more than 1,200 cases have been found in wild boar. It likely won’t have a major impact on the country’s pork market because Germany’s exports are already subject to bans from many countries outside of the European Union.

China and many other pork buyers banned German pork imports back in September of 2020 after the first ASF case was confirmed in wild animals, but German pork sales to other members of the EU continued.

“The discovery of ASF on a German farm doesn’t change the overall situation that much with import bans already in place by China and other importers,” says Justin Sherrard, Global Strategist for Animal Protein at Rabobank. “They cannot restrict trade any further when trade is already stopped by other countries.”