December 18, 2008
Japan bans poultry imports from Taiwan
Japan has implemented a temporary ban on imports of poultry and chicken eggs from Taiwan following the discovery of the weakened form of bird flu virus the H5N2 virus there, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday (Dec 17).
The ban is aimed at protecting the Japanese poultry from being contaminated with the virus, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Imports of poultry from Taiwan totalled 5,128 tonnes in 2007. Taiwan is the third largest importer of poultry to Japan after Brazil and the US, according to the ministry.
But as imports from Brazil account for 90 per cent of Japan's total poultry imports, the ban will have little effect on the domestic market, ministry officials said.
