March 15, 2007

China strengthens quarantine measures as animal restocking nears

China's Department of Agriculture has moved to strengthen quarantine on livestock transportation as the restocking season nears.

The department has asked local animal health authorities to impose strict inspection prior to certification.

China's Department of Agriculture requires vaccination for every livestock, poultry, milk cattle and other animals not meant for slaughtering when they were delivered out of the base county. Animals not vaccinated would be denied certification from animal health authorities.

Livestock would also need to be properly quarantined once it reaches its destination. Dead livestock would have to be properly disposed of.

China Livestock Association's Poultry Sub-Division's Shen Guang said the measures would not affect the industry much as livestock transport has always required a quarantine certification. The move by the agriculture department only serves to strengthen current laws. He also stressed that inspection fees are unlikely to go up with increased inspections.

The Agricultural Department has stipulated that vaccinations should begin by mid-March to be completed by early May.

Currently, the agricultural department has a specialised unit for vaccine production, distribution and quality control to ensure sufficient supplies in Spring. The agricultural department is also tightening monitoring for bird flu and foot-and-mouth disease cases before May. Currently, specialists from the department have fanned out to 15 provinces to carry out supervisory work. 

Chinese authorities are on the high alert for bird flu cases as it continues to spread in surrounding countries such as Laos and Burma.

China's Fujian province reported a case of human bird flu in a village on Feb 28. No abnormal deaths were reported in the chickens.