June 23, 2004

Japan Resumes Dutch Poultry Imports; No New Bird Flu Cases

Japan resumed poultry imports from the Netherlands on Tuesday after confirming the European country has reported no new cases of bird flu for three months.

Japan imposed the ban March 17, immediately after Dutch officials notified Tokyo of possible avian influenza outbreaks on two farms in the Netherlands.

Tuesday's import resumption comes 90 days after Dutch authorities completed necessary quarantine measures, with no new cases of bird flu reported there, the Agriculture Ministry said.

Japan now bans poultry meat imports from 13 countries where avian flu has struck, including the U.S. and Canada.

In 2002, Japan imported about 430,000 tons of chicks but no poultry meat or products from the Netherlands. Japan temporarily banned Dutch poultry imports between March and August last year due to an earlier bird flu case there.

Japan was hit by bird flu in January. The disease infected chickens at several farms and wild crows in surrounding areas, but no case of human transmission has been reported in the country.

The severe form of the flu also hit many other Asian nations earlier this year, leaving at least 24 people dead in Thailand and Vietnam, and leading to the slaughter of 100 million birds in the region.