RIYADH, 9 September 2004 — The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has temporarily banned import of poultry from Malaysia after the country reported a fresh outbreak of bird flu, Al-Watan reported yesterday.
The ban also includes all Asian countries with a history of bird flu outbreak. They include Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand as well as Cambodia, Tibet and Hong Kong.
Commerce Minister Hashim Yamani issued a decision last February banning all Asian poultry coming through King Abdul Aziz port in Dammam.
Saudi Arabia is among the first countries in the Gulf region to ban import of Asian poultry following the outbreak bird flu in the region last year.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture has now lifted a temporary ban on import of US poultry. The ban was imposed in the wake of an outbreak of West Nile Fever in the US.
Also lifted was a ban on import of eggs from the Arab Company for Development of Livestock in Jordan as well as the National Company for Jordanian Poultry.
