September 16, 2004

EU Extends Ban On Asian Poultry Imports

The European Union said Wednesday it had extended a ban on imports of chicken meat and pet birds from several Asian countries hit by avian flu to March 31 next year.

The countries include Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, the EU's executive commission said in a statement.

At least 24 people have been killed and almost 200 million birds have died or been culled after the virus spread rapidly through Asia this year. New outbreaks in recent months have shown the crisis is far from over.

"Outbreaks of avian influenza are still occurring in some of these countries and the overall disease situation in the area remains unclear," the commission said.

The EU decided in January to suspend poultry imports from Thailand to prevent the disease from being introduced into Europe. It subsequently suspended imports of pet birds such as parrots from Southeast Asia.

In contrast, the commission said that a similar ban imposed on poultry exports from Texas had expired on August 23, and one covering parts of the Canadian state of British Columbia would end on October 1.

"The disease has successfully been eradicated in the USA and Canada," the statement said.

But an import ban on South African poultry announced last month remains in place until January 1.