BEIJING, Sept 23 (Reuters) - The European Union's health chief expressed alarm on Wednesday at a Chinese plan to demand health certificates for pork imports, saying it was a form of protectionism, but China said it was needed to keep out flu.
The scheme, unveiled without fanfare last Friday, is designed to prevent the spread of the new H1N1 strain of flu -- sometimes known as swine flu -- by ensuring pork imports are free from the virus, according to the Chinese government.
But EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said the step, which would affect pork imports from countries including Britain, France and Denmark, is unjustified as the United Nations says pork cannot pass on the flu to humans.
The EU fears it will impose too burdensome an extra cost on producers.
"This will be of great concern to the EU because it's interpreted as protectionism," she told reporters in Beijing.
However, China produces almost all pork consumed in the country itself, so any impact on trade is likely to be limited.
China produced 44.59 million tonnes of pork in 2008, more than half the world's total. That same year, it imported just 1.92 million tonnes of pork and pork products.
Yu Taiwei, the head of China's quality watchdog's food safety export and import bureau, said the certification step was needed to prevent the spread of H1N1.
"These countries can still export to China. We're not violating any agreements. We're not limiting imports," Yu said. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jerry Norton)