South Korean poultry imports banned: Japan

After the recent discovery in South Korea of a suspected case of bird flu, Japan has suspended poultry imports from the country, according to a Japanese official.

A Japanese official from the Ministry of Agriculture said that Japan, as a rule, stops importing poultry from countries where there is an actual or potential case of bird flu.

Last year, Japan imported a total of 1,500 tonnes of fresh and processed poultry and duck meat from South Korea (around 0.2 percent of Japan's total global imports), the official said.

The current outbreak, if confirmed, would be the country's first case of bird flu in around three years.

A South Korean ministry official said about 6,000 chickens at a farm in North Cholla province had died this week. The remaining 6,000 or so poultry at the farm would now be culled.

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Editor WorldPoultry