Japan bans imports of Chinese poultry

Asian Economic News, June 11, 2001

TOKYO, June 7 Kyodo

The farm ministry said Thursday it will ban imports of Chinese poultry after the South Korean government discovered the presence of a bird-flu virus in Chinese duck meat in its own quarantine process.

The ban will start Friday and will remain in place until the safety of Chinese poultry is confirmed, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

The ministry said it will send investigators to both South Korea and China to confirm the presence of the virus in the Chinese fowl meat.

Outbreaks of the avian influenza virus have been confirmed in Macau and Hong Kong, prompting the ministry to slap a similar ban on the imports of poultry from those two areas.

There have been no reports of an outbreak of the bird virus on the Chinese mainland.

Japan annually imports 250,000 tons of poultry.

Outbreaks of the bird-flu virus are designated by law in Japan as epidemics that require close monitoring and strong responses by authorities.

There have been no reports of humans contracted the virus.