February 4, 2009
Japan suspends poultry imports from France
Japan has banned imports of French poultry following a bird flu outbreak in France, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
The ministry said ducks at a farm in western France were infected with a bird flu virus with low virulence level.
In 2007, France was the top supplier of chicks to Japan, shipping 190,000 of them, or 37 percent of Japan's overall chick imports.
The ministry expects the ban to have minimal impact as Japan can import chickens from other countries.
