March 1, 2004

Japan Considers Bird Flu Compensation For Farmers

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is considering introducing a permanent system of compensation for poultry farmers hit by bird flu outbreaks, a top ministry official said.

"We have dealt with it on a case-by-case basis so far, but a permanent step is necessary for preventing the spread of the disease," Mamoru Ishihara, vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said at a news conference.

"I want to discuss what kind of measures are necessary within the government," he said, according to Kyodo.

Ishihara criticized a poultry farm in Kyoto Prefecture, central Japan, for failing to report mass deaths of chickens there and took a dim view on paying the farm compensation.

"It's very regrettable from the viewpoint of social responsibility...Given public opinion, it's questionable whether to pay compensation," he said.

About 133,000 chickens have died at Asada Nosan Co.'s Funai farm in the town of Tamba, Kyoto Prefecture, since chickens there started dying en masse Feb. 20.

The farm stopped shipping chickens Feb. 27 when samples from the farm were found to be positive for bird flu following an inspection by Kyoto prefectural government officials acting on an anonymous tip that many chickens were dying at the farm.

The following day, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries confirmed samples from the farm were infected with a highly contagious strain of avian flu.