Japan Expected to Lift US Poultry Ban In June - US - U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said Wednesday she expects Japan to lift its ban on U.S. poultry by June because of a bilateral protocol that the countries share.

Veneman, in prepared testimony to the House Agriculture Committee, also stressed that she is optimistic that China and Hong Kong will soon ease restrictions on U.S. poultry. These countries placed bans on U.S. poultry due to outbreaks of avian influenza early this year.

After avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, was discovered in four U.S. states - Texas, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey - in February, about 25 countries banned imports of U.S. poultry entirely. Several others instituted bans on poultry from U.S. states with confirmed avian influenza cases.

Those countries that banned U.S. poultry entirely resulted in a loss of about one-third of the nation's export markets. These included such notable international markets as Japan, China and Mexico.

There are high and low pathogenic forms of avian influenza. The forms of the disease in the U.S. were not as pathogenic as those in Asia in which more than 20 people died after contracting the disease.

Source: eFeedLink - 29th April 2004