February 10, 2004

China To Review Need For US Poultry Ban

Chinese officials are reviewing the need to ban US poultry products following the discovery of bird flu at a chicken farm in Delaware.

"The government is studying related measures regarding U.S. poultry imports... You will see a result soon," said the official who deals with the quarantine of poultry at the State Administration for Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine.

He wouldn't clarify whether these measures include a ban on imports of U.S. poultry products.

An official from the U.S.A. Poultry and Egg Export Council said Monday that China had stopped issuing import permits for U.S. poultry products.

However, the Chinese quarantine official said the government is still allowing U.S. poultry products into China, and he stressed that the local quarantine authority hasn't stopped issuing quarantine permits to poultry importers. He did say though that importers should be "cautious" in procuring poultry products from the Delaware area.

A U.S. Agriculture official said Friday that a poultry farm with 12,000 chickens in Delaware was hit by a strain of bird flu that is lethal to chickens but isn't harmful to humans.

Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said the bird flu in Delaware was H7, a low-pathogenic form, and not the highly pathogenic strain that has been found in some Asian countries.