EU Bans Turkish Poultry Imports

BRUSSELS - Oct 11/0-5 - SNS -- The European Union has banned all imports of Turkish live birds and untreated feathers, following the confirmed presence of avian influenza (AI) virus in Turkey over the weekend.

Imports of live poultry, eggs and fresh poultry meat from Turkey are already not allowed in the EU, and therefore no ban is necessary for these products. Member States shall implement the import ban immediately, and the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health will review the decision on 12 October.

The high pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus has been endemic in South East Asia since 2003, resulting in the death or destruction of over 140 million birds. The EU has followed the situation closely, working with international actors such as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to try to combat the virus in this region, offering financial and technical support to affected countries, and increasing vigilance against the disease within its own borders.

In April 2005, the Commission put forward a proposal for a Directive to update EU avian influenza measures, based on the developing situation and taking into account new scientific knowledge on the disease – including its potential impact on human health.

Reports of the disease spreading westwards into Russia and Kazakhstan in August 2005 prompted the Commission and Member States to step up efforts to keep avian influenza from entering Europe, and to review the risk-reducing measures in place.

Among the measures agreed upon were increased surveillance (particularly of wild birds), mandatory reporting to national veterinary authorities of abnormal wild bird deaths, and the release of almost 900,000 euro from the EU budget to co-finance extended monitoring of birds for the avian influenza viruses.

Import bans are also already in place for exports from Kazakhstan, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, China, Vietnam, North Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Russia (Siberia), due to the incidence of avian influenza in these countries.