The Executive Yuan is planning to prohibit live poultry trade and slaughtering in traditional markets nationwide by 2008 to prevent outbreaks of the H5N1 avian flu strain, an official said yesterday.
The Cabinet will present a series of poultry-slaughtering measures next month.
Singapore already has such a ban, and Hong Kong is planning to follow suit by 2008.
At a national security meeting on avian flu in March, President Chen Shui-bian (
An interministerial ad hoc group was then formed by the Executive Yuan.
The group is scheduled to present its suggestions on preventing an avian-flu outbreak next month, including increasing the number of certified electrical slaughterhouses and educating poultry vendors and the public on how to prevent the disease.
Many poultry vendors were initially opposed to the proposed ban because they feared losing customers, but they are now more ameanable since they believe the ban will attract more clients in the long run, a Taipei City Government official said.
There are some 400 poultry vendors selling freshly slaughtered poultry in Taipei alone.
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