Malaysia complains of lingering curbs on chicken exports
MALAYSIA - Malaysia criticized Japan and other countries for refusing to accept its poultry exports long after it was declared free of bird flu following an outbreak last year."Unfortunately, most of the importing countries that used to import poultry and poultry products from Malaysia are still hesitant to do so," Agriculture Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told an international conference on the deadly virus.
Malaysia was hit by the disease in August 2004 in the northern state of Kelantan bordering Thailand, prompting the government to undertake a culling and disinfection exercise.
Countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines and also the EU banned Malaysian poultry imports, causing farmers estimated daily losses of 10 mln rgt.
The country declared itself free of bird flu in January, with the government saying no new cases had been recorded since November 22.
Source: money.inq7.net
6 July 2005
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