Live poultry killings to be banned in Taiwanese markets

Taiwan is planning a permanent ban on the killing of live poultry in traditional markets amid concerns over the spread of the H7N9 avian flu virus in China, officials in the country have stated.

As an agricultural law requires a grace period for relevant preparation, the new rule will come into effect on June 17. However, Huang Kwo-ching, a spokesman for the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, said the ban would be implemented immediately if a human case of the H7N9 bird flu were to be reported in Taiwan.

Market vendors will still be allowed to sell poultry supplied from the island’s 79 licensed slaughter houses after the new rule comes into effect, he added.

Taiwan and China is separated by a narrow strait, and last week Taiwanese authorities destroyed more than 100 birds smuggled from the mainland and seized by the coastguard in a fishing port in northern Taiwan.