November 26, 2020

UAE announces ban on poultry products from Sweden

The United Arab Emirates announced on November 23 that it has banned selected poultry products from Sweden.

The UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCAE) sent an announcement via Twitter: "MoCCAE has banned the import of all kinds of live domestic and wild birds, ornamental birds, chicks and hatching eggs and their (non-thermally treated) products from Sweden."

Authorities said that Sweden has culled 3,200 turkeys last week in response to bird flu in the country, putting a stop to its poultry exports outside the European Union for at least three months.

The slaughter followed a series of bird flu outbreaks in Europe in the last few weeks, with wild birds suspected to be spreading the disease.

"So far, we only have one infected farm in Sweden, but we don't know how much of the virus we have in wild fauna. So there is of course the risk of another farm getting infected," Katharina Gielen, department head at the Swedish Board of Agriculture, said.

 - Khaleej Times