February 5, 2004

 

 

Thailand Takes Steps To Assure Japan Of Cooked Chicken Safety

 

Thailand's Commerce Ministry will send an official letter and medical certificate to Japan Thursday, assuring the Japanese government that cooked Thai chickens are safe to consume, Commerce Minister Watana Muangsook said.

 

Japan, the biggest buyer of Thai chickens, banned Thai poultry imports to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus. Bird flu, being battled by 10 governments in the region, was confirmed in Thailand Jan. 23. Five people in Thailand have died from the disease.

 

The Thai government, citing the World Health Organization, said the virus can be destroyed by heat in the cooking process.

 

In an effort to regain some of its lost share in the cooked chicken market in Japan, Watana said Thailand wants to assure Japan that cooked Thai chickens have been processed at 70 degrees Celsius and are safe for consumption.

 

"Once we prove that our cooked chickens are safe, it's unreasonable to continue the ban on Thai cooked chickens," Watana said.

 

Wednesday, Watana was quoted in local media as saying: "If they still insist on banning medically certified cooked meat, we will consider such measures as extraordinary conditions and retaliate...We will ask them to steam their Toyotas before exporting them here."

 

However, Watana said Thursday that his comment on retaliation was "a figure of speech."

 

"I just meant that if Japan doesn't have a proper reason for the ban, it's not necessary for Thailand to be reasonable," Watana said.

 

Watana said Japan is a good, long-term customer of Thai chickens and he believes Japan wishes Thailand success in regaining the confidence of chicken importers.

 

Thailand has regained 60% of its cooked chicken exports and is aiming to regain the remaining 40% in the Japanese market, Watana said.

 

The European Union, the second largest buyer of Thai chickens, and other countries are allowing imports of cooked Thai chickens, but banning imports of other poultry.

 

"We have to regain our cooked chicken share in the Japanese market as it will help support the country's chicken exports as a whole," Watana said.

 

Cooked Thai chickens accounted for 20%-30% of the country's chicken exports, which totaled around 540,000 tons valued around 54 billion baht ($1=THB39.076) in 2003, according to data from the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association.