January 10, 2012

 

Hong Kong: Live chicken sales quotas to be eased

 

 

The daily live chicken quota for Hong Kong will be eased, thus allowing local farmers to sell off excessive stocks which accumulate after a ban on live chicken sales on December 21, according to Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow.  

 

The 21-day ban on sales is imposed after a chicken is found dead at a local market. The bird is later tested positive for avian flu, H5N1.

 

The normal daily quota of 7,000 live chickens will be eased, once the ban is lifted on January 12, as long as the risk of bird flu has not increase, Dr Chow said.

 

The infected chicken is discovered in a refuse bin at Cheung Sha Wan livestock wholesale market on December 20. The ban on live poultry sales goes into effect the following day.

 

Dr Chow says: "The supply amount would be more than 7,000 and it should depend on the market affordability and the needs of the citizens."

 

Chicken farmers want the government to give priority to chickens raised on local farms once sales resume.

 

"After the suspension of live chickens, there have been 450,000 chickens available for sale, stocked in local farms. If 14,000 to 20,000 chickens were sold each day, it would take about 20 days to sell all the chickens. They could not be sold out until the Chinese Lunar New Year," explained Wong Yung-kan, a legislative councillor from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, who assists the farmers.

 

"If there is a further delay, the chickens would grow, which makes the chicken farms crowded and their living environment worse than before," added Wong.

 

"The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will assist the local chicken farmers to select suitable chickens for the market," Dr Chow said.

 

Dr Chow assures that the birds will not remain in markets overnight. He urges continued vigilance since the risk of avian flu remains high in winter months.

 

Chow says he does not expect the industry to push live chickens to the wholesale market without limit once the ban is lifted. Such incidence will cause storage problems and an overwhelming rush of customers according to past experiences when the suspension of live chicken ceases. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department takes thousands of samples after the infected bird was found. No further traces of the virus are discovered.