January 16, 2004

 

 

Thailand Give Bird Flu Free Assurance To Asian Chicken Importers

 

The Thai government is expected to issue a strong statement today reassuring chicken importers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan that poultry in the country is free from bird flu.

The importers would also be assured of the effectiveness of Thailand's measures to curb the outbreak of cholera that has hit layer chicken farms in some areas.

In addition, the government has vowed to co-operate with the OIE (Office International des Epizooties), the world organisation for animal health, to help put the bacteria, known as the Pasteurella Multocida Type A, and respiratory problems under control.

Yukol Limlamthong, the director-general of the Livestock Development Department, said: "Importers will be notified of the stiff measures we have taken so far.''

He said in addition to a large number of chickens culled in Nong Bua, Nakhon Sawan, the first spot where the bacteria were found, chickens on farms located in the five-kilometre radius were also slaughtered. Exports of chickens from farms in the 60-km radius were also banned.

The notification will be the second since some Thai poultry farms reported being affected by the outbreak.

"We also want to assure them that laboratory tests show the chicken are not infected with the bird flu,'' he said.

Mr Yukol said more than 200 veterinarians had been sent to help farmers in sensitive areas, including Chachoengsao and Nakhon Sawan.

The official said about 100,000 chickens died from cold weather, respiratory syndrome and cholera, and 300,000 were healthy chickens being killed under the ministry's epidemic control directive.

Singapore's ban on Thai chicken imports yesterday should have only a slight impact on the local poultry industry as it prohibits the imports of frozen whole poultry but not cut and processed products, Mr Yukol said.

The Singaporean Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said the suspension would be lifted when all was clear in Thailand.

Singapore imports about 15,000 tonnes of chicken from Thailand, about 14.5% of its total imports of 103,000 tonnes.

However, other foreign buyers have a different point of view.

Masatoshi Ito, the president of Ajinomoto Frozen Foods Inc, said his company would continue to buy chicken from Thailand as he was confident of the country's food safety programme. "I am certain that Japanese buyers will still buy the products from their [Thai] suppliers.''

In a bid to keep poultry farms safe from the severe diseases, the department will seek funds from the committee for farmers' assistance policy to upgrade all chicken farms - both layers or broilers - into closed systems, with high sanitation and advanced management.

They will also seek five billion baht loans from the SME Bank for operators to improve their slaughterhouses, processing plants and deliveries.

The department is also investigating into false claims for compensation for the loss of chicken dying of the cholera. The government had earlier pledged to pay 40 baht on average to farmers for each chicken dying of the disease.

Despite the news of the diseases, consumers and shoppers, especially in Bangkok, seem unperturbed by the threat.

An executive of Yum Restaurant International Thailand said yesterday that the flow of customers at 305 KFC restaurants nationwide was normal in the past few days, nor was there any sign of customers staying away from chicken.

"At certain outlets, some customers did ask us about the bird flu and how it could relate to KFC fried chicken. We give them some explanations and they seemed to understand,'' he said.

The message Yum gave its customers is that the company obtains raw chicken from CPF, which maintains stringent international quality controls.

"But if the prevailing sentiment is that the local chicken supplies could be unsafe, we will seek alternative sources elsewhere,'' he added.

Chamnarn Maythaprechakul, senior vice president for marketing at The Mall Group's Home Fresh Mart supermarket, and Phattaraporn Phenpraphat, assistant vice-president at CRC Ahold's Tops Supermarket, said poultry sales at their supermarkets were not affected.

"We believe our customers are confident in buying poultry at our supermarkets. Our pork and chicken receive certificates from the Livestock Development Department and it is 10% more expensive than the meat sold in the markets. We are not worried at all about this,'' said Mr Chamnarn.

Ms Phattaraporn said the company had also told food vendors at Tops food courts to declare the sources of origin of their chicken to the company.