Poultry products slowly begin crossing borders

Ottawa – Poultry products between Canada and the U.S. are starting to cross the border again.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency declared in August that three U.S. states – Indiana, Montana and Arkansas – were free of highly pathogenic avian flu, reports AgCanada.com.

This means travellers entering Canada from the U.S. can now bring in uncooked poultry products and eggs from those states, each of which discovered avian flu in flocks this past spring.

AgCanada.com reports that travellers entering Canada still cannot bring in poultry or related products from California, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri Nebraska, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin.

On the U.S. side, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has lifted restrictions on imports of poultry and poultry products from Ontario, reports Reuters.com.

The USDA limited imports from Ontario since April when a deadly form of avian flu was found on a turkey farm.

Reuters.com reports that effective immediately, restrictions will be removed on imports of products ranging from live poultry and research birds to hatching eggs.

The bird flu killed more than 48 million turkeys and chickens in the U.S. since late December. As a result, says Reuters.com, U.S. egg prices have reached record highs and squeezed turkey supplies.

In Japan, the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has partially lifted a ban on imports of live poultry and poultry meat products from Canada and the U.S., reports CanadianMeatBusiness.ca.

Imports from B.C. and from eight U.S. states will resume after nearly nine months of restrictions. However a ban is still imposed on live poultry and poultry meat from Ontario and seven U.S. states. CanadianMeatBusiness.ca reports that Japanese officials may lift restrictions after making local checks.