Poultry prices are recovering as the spread of avian flu is brought under control, prompting the government to seek business opportunities overseas for the nation's poultry products through the WTO.
According to Kaohsiung County Government agricultural officials, the spread in February of a strain of avian flu that does not affect humans caused the price of poultry products to fall below cost.
A more pathogenic strain of the disease has killed 23 people elsewhere in Asia but has not been detected in this country.
Early this month, the weak strain of avian flu was found on a Kaohsiung County farm, prompting the slaughter of tens of thousands of chickens.
Nevertheless, officials said, prices of broiler chickens and free-range chickens have bounced back.
As of yesterday, the selling prices of 600g of free-range chickens and broiler chickens were NT$24 and NT$21 respectively, both above cost. Egg prices have already returned to normal.
Council of Agriculture (COA) officials on Monday in Geneva delivered the latest information about the spread of avian flu in this country to the WTO.
According to the Central News Agency, Tu Wen-chen (杜文珍), an official from the council's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, told other WTO members it was unnecessary for the 21 countries and areas that have banned the import Taiwanese poultry products to continue the prohibition because so few cases had been reported in Taiwan recently.
Tu stressed that all birds on farms affected by the H5N2 strain of avian flu had been slaughtered and strict quarantine measures remain in place.
Representatives of nine countries or territories that suspended imports of Taiwanese poultry were reportedly impressed with the government's efforts at controlling the disease.
The nine were: Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.
"Communicating with nine WTO members at the same time was an effective way to let others have a clear picture of Taiwan," Tu said.
Taiwan's permanent representative to the WTO, Yen Ching-chang (
"However, issuing this ban against Taiwanese poultry products is inappropriate and lacks scientific support," Yen said.
Yen said that Taiwan deserved to be regarded as a good example of how to control the infection, as it automatically reports its situation to international agencies such as the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
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