February 10, 2004

Malaysia's Sabah To Assure Safety Of Poultry Exports

Agriculture authorities from Sabah will meet their Sarawak and Brunei counterparts on February 18 for poultry trade talks aimed at assuring the safety of chicken exports.

Sabah Agriculture and Food Industry Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Ismail said these problems arose from concerns that poultry from the state could have been contaminated by the bird flu virus. 

These fears are unfounded as no infections have been discovered in Sabah, he told reporters during a visit to Sum Soon Agriculture Sdn Bhd hatchery here yesterday. 

"So far no (bird flu) cases have been discovered at poultry farms in the state." 

Sabah's poultry industry is worth some RM300mil a year. It has about 200 poultry farms with Papar district alone producing some 450,000 chickens and 15 million eggs a month. 

Abdul Rahim said: "We have to convince our neighbours that our chickens are safe to eat." 

In Kuching, a public talk on 'Avian Influenza: Man and Chicken' would be held today at Wisma Bapa Malaysia to raise awareness about the bird flu scare.