UAE bans poultry imports from bird flu-hit countries

UAE bans poultry imports from bird flu-hit countries

DUBAI — UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has lifted the ban on importing hatching eggs, table eggs, chicks, and processed beef, veal, mutton, lamb, goat, and chicken meat from Egypt, in addition to opening the door for importing live cattle and sheep from the country.

The decision followed meetings between the UAE's ministry and Egypt's Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation and food control authorities and came on the heels of an imminent announcement from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), declaring multiple poultry farms in Egypt free of the avian influenza virus.

The ministry has also lifted the import ban on domestic live birds from Hungary after receiving confirmation from the OIE that the country is now free from the virus.

On the other hand, the UAE environment ministry has issued nine resolutions banning the import of birds and their by-products from areas that recorded outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in November and December 2020 as per notifications from the OIE.

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