January 26, 2004

Bangladesh Bans Chicken Imports On Bird-Flu Fears

Bangladesh has banned the import of live chickens from seven Asian countries because of fears over bird flu.

The countries are Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. they were told about the government decision on Thursday, the secretary-general of the Bangladesh poultry association, Kaiser Rahman, said.

Rahman said Bangladesh imports only 1-day-old chicks for rearing from Thailand and Malaysia. He disagreed with the government decision to ban the import of chickens from those two countries, saying they are free from bird flu.