koreas import restrictions due to african swine fever in july 2015 the european union raised a concern about the import restrictions on pork and pork products put in place in february 2014 by korea on african swine fever asf grounds. the european union repeated that trade could take place safely and affirmed that korea disrespected the sps agreement regarding regionalization. korea continuously received detailed information on the control surveillance and monitoring measures of the european union. koreas risk assessment process lacked of clarity about the required steps and the use of information provided by the european union. the european union called on korea to respect its regionalization obligations under the sps agreement and to allow trade of all safe products. the european union also restated its availability to continue working with korea and any other trading partners with a view to finding a rapid solution on this matter. korea responded that it had banned pork and pork products from poland since the first case of asf was reported in february 2014 in agreement with poland. in response to the european union for regionalization korea had implemented the necessary steps to assess the current situation in poland and sent experts to have an on-site inspection. the preliminary assessment on asf had been delivered to poland and an exchange of views was still under way. as a result korea had been consistent with articles 6.2 and 6.3 of the sps agreement and hoped to continue bilateral discussion on the basis of science and data. in october 2015 the european union recalled its concerns regarding koreas import restrictions on pork and pork products due to african swine fever asf taken since february 2014. korea had continuously received detailed information from the european union. koreas risk assessment process lacked clarity about the required steps and the use of information provided by the european union in particular on its control surveillance and monitoring measures. the european union called on korea to respect its regionalization obligations under the sps agreement and to allow trade of safe products. the european union also restated its availability to continue working with korea and any other trading partners with a view to finding a rapid solution on this matter. korea recalled that it had banned pork and pork products from poland since the first case of asf was reported in february 2014 in agreement with poland. at the request of the european union korea had implemented the necessary steps to assess the current situation in poland and hired experts to that effect. korea had completed its preliminary assessment after considering polands comments received in may 2015 and had decided to move on to the next steps. korea requested that poland and the european union take proactive control measures to prevent the spread of asf and cooperate fully to expedite the risk assessment process which needed to incorporate a distinction between affected and unaffected areas. in march 2016 the european union stressed the importance of regionalization and the massive potential trade impact of failing to recognize effective regionalization measures and in that context reiterated its concerns regarding koreas import restrictions on pork and pork products due to asf. the european union stated that despite having raised this concern at the july and october 2015 sps committee meetings and having had several bilateral discussions import restrictions remained. korea had informed the european union in october 2015 that it had decided to proceed to the next ste of its risk assessment process. however that risk assessment process lacked clarity about the required steps and the use of information provided by the european union in particular on its control surveillance and monitoring measures. the european union called on korea to respect its regionalization obligations under the sps agreement and to allow trade of safe products. the european union also re