Dr Bernard Vallat, director general of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), will give the keynote address at the meeting.

Host hotel for the meeting, scheduled for 14 to 16 April, is the Hilton Arc de Triomphe. Members of the IPC will also have a full day of meetings at the headquarters of the OIE on 15 April.

Also slated to speak during the meeting are Dr Klaus Schumacher, chief economist of Toepfer International of Germany, who will talk on GMO issues, and Dr Jorgen Schlundt of the World Health Organization. Dr Simon Mack, chief of the animal production and health division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN will also address IPC members.

Dr Gilles Huttepain, president of Fédération des Industries Avicoles, France's main poultry association, will give an overview of his country's poultry industry.

Members of the respective IPC member countries will also give status updates of the poultry industries in their home countries.

In 2008, the OIE granted recognition to the IPC as the official organization representing the world's poultry meat producers. Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two groups, the OIE will look to the IPC for input when developing positions on global animal health and welfare issues.

Some 24 countries are represented in the IPC's membership.

For more on the meeting, or for membership inquiries, contact IPC Executive Secretary, George Winn ([email protected]).