March 25, 2004

Safe Poultry Back On Shelves Again In Vietnam

Quarantined poultry products are officially allowed back on sale for consumption on Monday, following a few days of pre-emptive strikes on unsanctioned poultry dealings. Two poultry companies in Dong Nai - CP Viet Nam Poultry Farming and Long Binh Animal Processing said they have been registered to supply quarantined fresh chicken meat for Ho Chi Minh City's retail sector starting on March 23.

CP company officials said they have already supplied 800kg of fresh chicken for KFC fast food shops in the city. The price of chicken is about VND22,000 per kilo, VND2,000 higher than the pre-bird flu epidemic period. The City's Director of Veterinary Department Huynh Huu Loi, said the two companies have been equipped with food sanitation standard slaughtering lines to supply quarantined poultry products to city consumers.

The move signals a loosening of regulations because previously, only processed and cooked poultry products were allowed to be imported and transported into the city. Ho Chi Minh City's biggest supermarket chain, Sai Gon Co-op, received its first batch of 15,000 fresh eggs from Da Lat Poultry Company last Friday.

The eggs, after passing through veterinary quarantine were packaged for retail at supermarkets last Saturday at VND12,800 for ten. Sai Gon Co-op Director General Nguyen Ngoc Hoa said the Co-op has ordered another 20,000 quarantine inspected fresh eggs. Maxi-Mark supermarket will also order 1 tonne of quarantined chicken for commercial and individual consumption. All poultry products imported into the city are to be controlled by the city's veterinary workers, and supplied by Dong Nai, Binh Duong and Lam Dong Provinces which have been declared free of avian influenza.

The city's veterinary teams will also help local farmers preserve animal breeding stock, disinfect chicken farms and vaccinate animals to help prevent the reoccurrence of the bird flu, and hopefully ensure food safety and community health. Ho Chi Minh City authorities pledge to provide preferential bank loans to help local farmers resume poultry breeding. Those who have been severely hit by the bird flu outbreak will receive VND30 million (US$2,000) in low interest bank loans.