EU bans U.S. poultry imports

EU bans U.S. poultry imports    The European Commission has banned U.S. poultry imports into the European Union after an avian influenza outbreak was confirmed in Texas.
   The European Commission has adopted the proposal from EC health and consumer protection commissioner David Byrne to suspend the import of live poultry, eggs and pet birds from the United States, with immediate effect and until 23 March.
   “Avian influenza is a highly contagious poultry disease that can cause severe economic damage to the poultry industry and can, in exceptional cases, be transmitted to humans,” the EC said.
   The EC said the avian influenza detected in Texas has a different virus strain from that currently causing the epidemic in Asia, and probably poses inferior public health risk to the Asian one.
   In 2003, the European Union imported from the United States about 9 million eggs, for a value of 20 million euros ($25 million), and 450,000 day-old chicks, for a value of 2.5 million euros ($3.2 million).
   The EU does not import U.S. poultry meat because the current treatment of U.S. poultry carcasses is not accepted by the EU.