January 20, 2004

Bird Flu Hit Japanese Chicken Farmers Seek Help In Sales Losses

Japanese chicken farmers in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the prefectural government urged the national poultry association and other prefectures Monday to help stop sales losses caused by the bird flu outbreak.

Hisami Kinoshita, president of the prefecture's poultry association, visited the Japan Poultry Association in Tokyo and presented a letter urging it to take measures to prevent damage stemming from safety concerns, including buyers canceling contracts for eggs and chicken meat from the prefecture.

The Yamaguchi Prefectural Government also announced it will send similar letters to other prefectures and about 20 retailer associations and the food service industry.

Yamaguchi plans to ask other prefectures to instruct retailers and restaurants not to post signs such as those stating they do not sell eggs and chicken from the prefecture, claiming such notices only promote consumer misunderstanding.

It will ask industry groups to provide "correct" information to buyers and consumers that the prefecture's chicken products for sale on the market are safe due to measures taken to prevent the spread of avian flu.

Kinoshita said farmers who have taken the appropriate measures to prevent the disease are still having a tough time selling their produce just because it comes from Yamaguchi.

"Chicken farmers in the prefecture are facing the crisis of having to shut down their businesses," Kinoshita said. "We want support from the government and the Japan Poultry Association."

The Japan Poultry Association began distributing 7,000 posters nationwide Monday in hopes of convincing consumers that eggs are safe.

The outbreak of bird flu, which has killed about 15,000 chickens out of 34,000 at the Win-Win farm since Dec. 28, is the first of its kind in Japan since 1925. The prefecture killed the remaining 19,000 birds and buried all of them in a nearby forest.

The strain of avian flu viruses, H5N1, that surfaced in Japan has caused outbreaks in humans, according to the World Health Organization. Vietnam has confirmed the deaths of five people.