EU restrictions on Thai poultry lifted

The European Union has announced that the restrictions on the import of fresh poultry meat from Thailand will be lifted. The restrictions had been in place since 2004 following an avian flu outbreak.

The restrictions will officially end on July 1 after health experts endorsed a recommendation from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.

The commission suspended imports of Thai fresh poultry meat and other poultry products following outbreaks of the highly pathogenic HPAI H5N1 strain of avian influenza that caused worldwide panic.

The commission said Thailand has implemented a “rigorous policy to stamp-out the pathogen, including intensive surveillance and quick elimination of infected animals, and as a result successfully eradicated HPAI H5N1 from its territory.”

The last mission carried out by commission experts in Thailand in March 2011 concluded that the country “can provide sufficient guarantees to comply with the EU import requirements for poultry meat,” the EU executive said in a statement.

The EU still has restrictions on imports of poultry meat from China as well as eggs from Malaysia and South Korea.

Source: Bangkok Post