EU Lifts Ban on Fresh Poultry Meat from Thailand

04 April 2012

EU - The EU Member States has supported the Commission's proposal to lift the restrictions on import of fresh poultry meat from Thailand from 1 July 2012.On 3 April, the Commission had adopted protection measures in early 2004 to suspend imports into the EU of fresh poultry meat and other poultry products from Thailand following outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza of the H5N1 subtype (HPAI H5N1). 
In response to the original protection measures, Thailand implemented a rigorous policy to stamp-out the pathogen, including intensive surveillance and quick elimination of infected animals, and as a result successfully eradicated HPAI H5N1 from its territory. 
The HPAI H5N1 epidemic had started in South East Asia in mid 2003 and the virus spread in the following years to three continents including Europe, affecting overall more than 60 countries.