Rules Needed for Poultry Bans

ROME - Oct 27/05 - SNS -- Banning poultry trade because of fears over the spread over avian influenza, or bird flu, without rules is not good for the industry, argues the FAO.

Import bans on poultry that do not distinguish between infected and non-infected countries are contrary to the spirit of the World Trade Organization (WTO), standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and recommendations made by FAO, the UN agency said in a statement.

As countries establish pre-emptive import bans on poultry to prevent possible bird flu outbreaks, FAO noted that in some cases, the bans include poultry from all countries, even those considered to be free of highly pathogenic avian influenza and those that have never experienced an outbreak of H5N1.

Countries arbitrarily banning the import of poultry products from non-infected countries are increasing the vulnerability of international global markets to price shocks, FAO said.

Subscribers can read the full text of the article by Clicking here