THE city's health authority has acted to try and check the rising prices of pork by sparing pigs from government-sponsored farms from quarantine, the Daily Sunshine 斜reported yesterday.

The move — aimed at increasing supplies of pork — came as wholesale prices of the meat rose above 20 yuan (US$2.63) per kilogram Monday evening, the highest in the city's history. Some pork retailers have stopped trading due to the high wholesale prices.

The new favorable rule applies to pigs from 56 government-sponsored farms where the city government believes pigs are safe.

Pig wholesalers have been reluctant to sell pigs to slaughterhouses in Shenzhen due to the complicated quarantine procedure and low prices as the price of pork has risen less quickly than in other Pearl River Delta cities, said Dai Ruwu, vice director of the municipal meat quarantine institute.

The new rule cuts the time needed for sending a pig from farm to market by at least six hours, said Dai.

"Sparing quarantine won't influence the quality of pigs," said Dai. "All the pigs supplied by the 56 farms passed their quarantine checks in the first five months of the year," said Dai, adding that the city government would still inspect the farms from time to time.

Wholesale prices of pork stood at 10 yuan per kilogram in the latter half of last year. It rose to 12 yuan in February, 19 yuan in July, and finally, 20.6 yuan per kilogram Monday, said Li Shun, a pork dealer in Longgang District.

Li said the price would not fall below 20 yuan per kilogram in five months, because the cost of pigs continues to rise.(Helen Deng, Guo Huan)