| HANOI, Vietnam,January
12, 2005, as reported by just-food.com: A Vietnam
teenager is dead after a two week battle with avian flu,
reported Rueters. The death marks the third in ten days
as the country and the region continues to fight to get
the highly communicable disease under control. The announcement
foreshadowed the European Union’s decision on future
trade relations with the region made just two days after
the unfortunate loss.
EU’s Standing Committee of the Food Chain and
Animal Health reviewed the poultry trade status of several
Asian countries effected by avian flu in 2004, reported
the European Commission. The Committee agreed to a Commission
proposal to lift the restrictions applicable to Japan
and South Korea; however, because the EU did not previously
import poultry or poultry meat from those two countries,
the lifting only applies to pet birds.
For eight other Asian countries – Cambodia, China,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam
– the suspension of the imports of all poultry
products and pet birds, previously applicable until
March 31, 2005, has been extended until September 30,
2005 as bird flu is either still present in these countries
or they cannot be certified as disease-free, the Commission
said.
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