March 8, 2006

Japan eases ban on French poultry imports
 

Japan has partially lifted the ban on French poultry imports to allow products processed before bird flu hit the country, a Japanese agriculture ministry official said Wednesday.

Japan has determined that the bird flu virus entered France after Feb 2, the ministry said in a statement.

Japan banned French poultry imports on Feb 24 after Paris found a second case of H5N1 bird flu in a wild duck in south-east France.

The ban caused great consternation among French chefs and food importers in Tokyo due to a dearth of foie gras imports. Japan gets half of its foie gras supply from France.

Japan imported 1,510 tonnes of poultry meat and 377 tonnes of internal organs from France in 2005.