TOKYO (January 28 2004): Japan, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday banned the import of poultry from Pakistan after bird flu was detected in chicken flocks in Karachi.

Japan has added Pakistan and Laos to a growing list of countries from which imports of poultry will be banned due to an outbreak of bird flu.

An Agriculture Ministry official said there had been no recent imports from either country, although there may have been wild fowl imports, which do not show up in official data.

The Hong Kong Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said in a statement the trade in live or frozen poultry had been temporarily suspended from Indonesia, Pakistan, Laos and China's Guangxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces.

A top official from the UAE Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries was quoted as saying by The Gulf News on Tuesday, "The ban applies on live or frozen poultry from Pakistan and eight other affected countries."

The move was classified as a precautionary measure by the official, who said that since UAE food safety requirements are based on international standards, the country remains very strict in this regard.

Courtesy Business Recorder